The INSIDER daily digest -- May 3, 2022

By John Liang / May 3, 2022 at 2:00 PM

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on Leidos' quarterly earnings, the survivability and quality of Air Force assets and more.

Leidos held its quarterly earnings call this week:

Defense Enclave Services contract win 'a slow ramp' for Leidos

Leidos' top executives cautioned today that their recently won $11.5 billion contract to unify the Pentagon's so-called Fourth Estate IT environments will face, in the words of the chief executive officer, "a slow ramp" before becoming "a significant program" for the company.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall spoke this week at a Brookings Institution event:

Kendall: Survivability and quality are highest priorities

Survivability and quality should be the Air Force's focus, service Secretary Frank Kendall said, compared to former-Defense Secretary Gen. Jim Mattis' priority of lethality and the Cold War-era mindset of maintaining the highest quantity of platforms.

The House Armed Services Committee's top Republican spoke at a virtual discussion with the Hudson Institute this week:

Rogers promises bigger defense budget, halt to DOD's planned divestitures

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, said today he is confident Congress will increase defense spending for fiscal year 2023 beyond what President Biden has requested, and will also block the Pentagon's plans to divest two-dozen ships and hundreds of aircraft.

Navy Vice Adm. David Dwyer, commander of U.S. 2nd Fleet, spoke with reporters recently about his organization's deployment of ships to support Europe:

Recent surge of destroyers supports Europe, 2nd Fleet commander says

Several guided-missile destroyers were deployed on short notice to support Europe and "reaffirm our commitment to our NATO allies and partners," according to a senior Navy official.

Microsoft recently signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Naval Postgraduate School:

Microsoft, Naval Postgraduate School ink research agreement

Microsoft and the Naval Postgraduate School are partnering under a new framework to research how a host of technologies could support the Navy's broader operational needs -- an undertaking that those involved say could help explore the military applications of rapidly maturing, commercial-driven solutions.

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