The INSIDER daily digest -- July 31, 2020

By John Liang / July 31, 2020 at 2:08 PM

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles program, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and more.

Oshkosh Defense -- which has built more than 40,000 earlier variants of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles -- is working with the Army to recalibrate the program schedule:

Oshkosh proposing FMTV A2 design changes, Army eyes potential resumption of testing this fall

Oshkosh Defense is proposing design changes to the newest variant of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, the FMTV A2, in an effort to both resolve reliability issues that surfaced during production vehicle testing earlier this year and get its truck back to being assessed at Aberdeen Proving Ground this fall, according to a service spokeswoman.

Cyberspace Solarium Commission members testified on Capitol Hill this week:

Solarium commissioners: Congress needs to review Pentagon's cyber forces, private sector info-sharing capabilities

Members of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission are urging Congress to consider expanding the Pentagon's Defend Forward strategy to review the current state of military cyber capabilities and incorporate new ways to engage with the defense industrial base.

In a statement of administration policy released today, the White House laid out its objections to the FY-21 appropriations package, arguing it violates the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 by including numerous "poison pills," both defense and non-defense:

White House raises veto threat over House minibus, including defense bill's limits on reprogramming

The White House is threatening President Trump will veto a House minibus bill that includes fiscal year 2021 defense funding over a wide range of provisions, including new restrictions on the Pentagon's reprogramming authority.

A shift in the 2018 strategy to restore the fleet of auxiliary vessels tasked with moving wartime cargo has been foreshadowed by officials in the Navy, U.S. Transportation Command and the Maritime Administration:

Navy sealift chief: Recap plans now focused on buying used ships, decoupling authorities

The Navy is changing course on how it will recapitalize the surge sealift fleet, now focusing on buying used vessels and pressing lawmakers to decouple procurement authorities from requirements for new ship construction.

Inside Defense this week interviewed Rich Hoffman, protected SATCOM lead for the Combat Capabilities Development Command C5ISR Center:

Army increasing battlespace resiliency through Project MOSS

The Army is working on adding resiliency to the battlespace by securing multiband SATCOM antenna terminal systems through Project Multi-band On-the-move Satellite Solutions, or MOSS.

A glitch in the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor triggered further technical reviews that delayed an eventual green light for production by 10 months, according to the Government Accountability Office in its recently released annual report on missile defense:

GAO: SM-3 Block IIA suffered glitch while achieving intercept in December 2018 flight test, triggering delays

The Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor suffered a previously unreported fault during a key flight test in December 2018, a glitch serious enough to give senior Pentagon leaders pause about pivoting from development to production despite the fact the weapon intercepted its intended target, a congressional audit revealed.

An alternative space acquisition system report was required by the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and was due by March 31. The Air Force sent a draft of the report to Congress in late May, which Inside Defense obtained, laying out a slate of reforms, some requiring statutory approval and others within the service's authority to implement:

Air Force developing implementation plans for near-term space acquisition reforms

The Air Force is developing implementation plans for a series of reforms aimed at improving space acquisition as a key report due in late March -- meant to lay out those reforms and request legislative approval where needed -- awaits final approval from the White House.

The Defense Department has nearly one million active-duty users working through a new telework capability, the Commercial Virtual Remote environment:

DOD enters 'next phase' of digital modernization, while teleworking could become the norm

The Pentagon has entered a new phase in its digital modernization plan, with several areas to watch in the coming months including increased agile software development, the award of fifth-generation wireless technology prototype contracts, the release of a new data strategy and decisions around a "sustained" teleworking policy.

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