Thursday, April 18, 2024
Thursday, April 18, 2024
This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Air Force's top modernization priorities, Army Futures Command and more.
The Air Force's top civilian spoke this week at the Aspen Security Forum:
Kendall highlights space, NGAD as Air Force priorities at Aspen Security Forum
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall this week laid out what he sees as the service's top modernization priorities as he prepares the fiscal year 2024 budget request, the first spending plan to be fully developed under his leadership.
The Army's No. 2 civilian spoke this week at an event hosted by the Association of the United States Army:
Camarillo: AFC directive designed to make modernization a 'team sport'
Army policies establishing the role of Futures Command did not take the entire acquisition process into account, the service's under secretary said Wednesday, also suggesting that an earlier directive improperly subordinated civilian acquisition authority.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, in its mark of the fiscal year 2023 defense policy bill, has proposed increasing the Missile Defense Agency's Technology Maturation Initiative's funding on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Diode-Pumped Alkali Laser project:
Congress proposes extending MDA work on potential missile-killing laser technology
A key congressional committee wants the Missile Defense Agency to continue developing next-generation directed-energy technology, proposing a $5 million increase to the fiscal year 2023 budget to extend work on a project with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on a Diode-Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL).
Our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity also have coverage of the Senate's version of the annual defense policy bill:
Senate defense policy bill requires Software Bill of Materials for DOD contracts, reports on critical infrastructure
Cyber elements in the Senate version of the fiscal year 2023 defense authorization bill are mostly Defense Department-focused, including a provision to require contractors to submit a Software Bill of Materials, and new authorities for U.S. Cyber Command to play an active role in addressing critical infrastructure attacks by "foreign powers."
The National Institute of Standards and Technology wants to hear from industry on the best way to handle controlled unclassified information:
NIST seeks comments on controlled unclassified information publications ahead of formal update process
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a pre-draft call for comments on four publications that explain how to protect the confidentiality of sensitive government data held on nonfederal systems, which are critical to the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program.
The Senate Armed Services Committee included several provisions in its version of the FY-23 defense policy bill to direct the comptroller general to review Navy programs -- including modernized cruisers the service has pegged to decommission:
Senate authorizers direct comptroller to assess Navy's cruiser modernization, surface fleet
New legislation from Senate lawmakers aims to assess the Navy's cruiser modernization program and address a myriad of surface fleet issues.