The INSIDER daily digest -- March 18, 2020

By John Liang / March 18, 2020 at 3:10 PM

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on hypersonics as well as the Pentagon's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keep an eye out for a big hypersonic flight test taking place in the next few days:

DOD appears poised for major hypersonic flight test this week

The Defense Department appears set this week to conduct a flight experiment of a long-range hypersonic glide vehicle that -- if successful -- will advance Army and Navy plans to mature prototype designs for land- and sea-launched offensive strike weapons as soon as 2023 and 2025, respectively.

More long-range strike news:

LRSO warhead risk-reduction review may result in production delay

The Air Force and National Nuclear Security Administration are evaluating options to minimize potential risks to delivering the Long-Range Standoff Weapon's new warhead and may propose shifting the first production unit delivery date.

Here's our coverage so far of the Pentagon's involvement in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic:

White House seeks $8.3B for Pentagon's COVID-19 response

A $45 billion supplemental funding request sent to Congress to combat the COVID-19 outbreak includes $8.3 billion for the Defense Department in the form of an "Emergency Response Fund."

Document: OMB letter on COVID-19 funding

Air Force postpones April ABMS demo, discusses COVID-19 impacts on exercises, flying hours

The Air Force confirmed today it has postponed an Advanced Battle Management System demonstration, slated for April, until June due to concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak.

An upcoming contract financing study will be run by Janice Muskopf, director of pricing and contracting initiatives:

DOD taking 'phased approach' to controversial contract financing study

The Pentagon plans to take a "phased approach" to completing a contract financing study next year that could change the way defense contractors get paid.

A new Defense Department inspector general's report looks at the Pentagon's cyber red teams:

New audit finds DOD disregarding some cyber vulnerabilities while red teams can't meet mission requests

A new audit is again pointing to the Defense Department's shortcomings in cybersecurity, reporting DOD components did not always mitigate vulnerabilities or plan to address them in a variety of systems, while the department's cyber red teams are not meeting mission requests due to increased demand for their services.

Document: DOD IG report on cyber red teams

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