The INSIDER daily digest -- March 29, 2024

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a spat over who has control of buying commercial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, the Navy's Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle program and more.

For a year, the National Reconnaissance Office, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Space Force have been working on a solution on how to divide up control of purchasing commercial ISR:

Maven being implemented by more COCOMs amid tensions with Space Force

Amid rising tensions between the Space Force and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency over commercial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, NGA's director said this week that more combatant commands are using Program Maven, noting increased opportunities for the program thanks to the Replicator initiative.

The Navy's fiscal year 2025 budget request, which includes $21.5 million in research and development funding for the XLUUV "Orca" program, indicates two vehicles will be delivered in the final quarter of FY-24 with three more following in the first half of FY-25:

Boeing aims to complete delivery of initial XLUUV set within 2025

After delivering an initial prototype in December, Boeing plans to turn over the remaining five Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles to the Navy before the end of 2025, according to company executives and service budget documents.

The Pentagon's top uniformed officer spoke this week at a Defense Writers Group event:

Brown pushing for supplemental bill that would inject billions into U.S. defense industry

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown said he and other officials are working hard to get lawmakers to support a $95 billion supplemental spending package that would inject tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. defense industry, while also aiding Ukraine and Israel.

The Army's fiscal year 2025 budget request includes $120 million to buy 31 semi-autonomous LASSO unmanned aerial systems -- slated for units based in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility -- capable of stand-off and destruction against various targets, according to the budget request:

Army seeks new-start LASSO in FY-25 to make infantry 'as lethal as armored brigades'

The Pentagon is seeking new-start authority in fiscal year 2025 to begin buying a man-portable, tube-launched, uncrewed aircraft called the Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) as part of the Army's Family of Low Altitude Unmanned Systems program -- an effort to give dismounted infantry next-generation tank-killing capability.

The Pentagon this week released its 2024 Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Strategy:

DIB cybersecurity strategy outlines four goals to prevent threats

Senior officials spoke about the four goals of the Defense Department's 2024 Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Strategy, adding that the strategy comes at a time when adversaries are specifically targeting DIB contractors.

Document: Defense industrial base cyber strategy

Continuing with cyber, our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity have continuing coverage of the public responses to the Pentagon's proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program rule:

Procurement coalition raises questions over DOD treatment of external service providers in CMMC proposed rule

The Coalition for Government Procurement is seeking clarity on how the Defense Department will allow external service providers to play a role in achieving compliance with the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, in a filing on the proposed rule to implement the effort.