The INSIDER daily digest -- Jan. 14, 2020

By John Liang / January 14, 2020 at 2:00 PM

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news from a breakfast this morning featuring Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord and more.

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord spoke about Boeing's recent troubles as well as a new counter-drone team at a breakfast with reporters this morning:

DOD acquisition chief advises Boeing to be 'very forthcoming' amid troubling headlines

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said today Boeing should be "very forthcoming" with the Defense Department as the company's new chief executive pledges to "rebuild trust" amid alarming reports of efforts to mislead federal regulators about the troubled 737 MAX aircraft.

Pentagon stands up new counter-drone team

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord provided new details today on the U.S. effort to field counter-drone technology, saying the military is working with foreign allies to test and evaluate a variety of potential systems.

Keep an eye out this spring for a report on the Navy's effort to develop concepts of operations for medium and large unmanned surface vehicles:

Navy to submit report in April on unmanned CONOPS development

The admiral working to develop the Navy's concepts of operations for medium and large unmanned surface vehicles plans to submit a report about the effort in April.

The Pentagon recently sent lawmakers an initial Selected Acquisition Report for the Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar:

Army tallies $3.4 billion acquisition tab for AN/TPQ-53 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar

The Army has sent Congress an initial Selected Acquisition Report for the AN/TPQ-53 radar -- the most advanced sensor in the service's inventory to counter incoming mortar, artillery and rockets -- just as government plans for the truck-mounted, rotating sensor are slated to wind down.

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Enterprise Consortium funding ceiling has been raised to $1.4 billion:

USD R&E approves $900 million SpEC ceiling increase

Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin has approved a $900 million ceiling increase for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Enterprise Consortium -- nearly tripling the program's funding limit.

The Air Force completed initial operational testing and evaluation of the Boeing-made B61-12 nuclear bomb's tail kit assembly during the first quarter of fiscal year 2020:

Air Force completes initial testing of B61-12 guided TKA on F-15E, B-2 aircraft

The Air Force has finished initial operational testing and evaluation of the B61-12 nuclear bomb's new guided tailkit assembly using F-15E and B-2 aircraft.

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