The INSIDER daily digest -- July 8, 2024

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Army conducting offensive cyber operations, the Air Force's Installation Infrastructure Action Plan and more.

Maj. Gen. Paul Stanton, commanding general of the Army Cyber Center of Excellence, recently spoke at an event hosted by the Association of the United States Army:

Stanton: Army can launch offensive cyber operations without negative effects

The Army can conduct offensive cyber operations against adversaries professionally and without triggering negative consequences that would intentionally affect other countries, according to a top cyber operations commander.

To deal with evolving threats around the globe, the Air Force is establishing an Installation Infrastructure Action Plan, set for release later this summer or in early fall:

Air Force to rethink its installations in new action plan focused on Indo-Pacific threat

The Air Force's new promise of "Reoptimization for Great Power Competition" -- centered on the belief that the service needs to be better postured to win in a potential fight with China -- is forcing officials to confront "two important realities" concerning the resiliency of their installations, Ravi Chaudhary, assistant Air Force secretary for energy, installations and environment, told Inside Defense.

On July 3, the Defense Department issued its National Defense Industrial Strategy Interim Implementation Report, detailing the progress DOD is making toward implementing the actions laid out in the NDIS:

DOD highlights key investments in new defense industrial base strategy report

The Defense Department recognizes it must "correct for years of underinvestment in the industrial base," Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante wrote in an interim National Defense Industrial Base Strategy implementation report released last week.

Document: DOD's NDIS interim implementation report

Through the Orbital Services Program-4, the Space Force and other Defense Department entities can rapidly acquire launch services, enabling launch typically between 12 and 24 months from the date a task order is announced:

Blue Origin, Stoke Space Technologies join pool of SSC launch providers

Blue Origin and Stoke Space Technologies today joined 10 other businesses in a pool able to compete for speedy space launches run through Space Systems Command.

Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas is known to be a major training installation for the service, with both the 82nd technical training wing and 80th flying training wing residing there:

Air Force preps study to bring T-7A to Sheppard Air Force Base

As the Air Force overhauls swaths of its legacy fleet to make room for modernization, it is now considering Sheppard Air Force Base, TX to house T-7A Red Hawk trainers once its current inventory of T-38C Talons retires by the 2030s, according to an environmental impact statement notice posted today in the Federal Register.