The INSIDER daily digest -- May 9, 2019

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Air Force's C-130J aircraft, the Navy's MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial vehicle, a potential third national missile defense site in the continental United States and much more.

A group of lawmakers is arguing that increasing the C-130J buy to support the Air National Guard and Reserve fleets would support two additional squadrons:

Lawmakers call on House defense leadership to add eight C-130Js in FY-20

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Appropriations defense subcommittee to add eight C-130J aircraft above what the Air Force and Navy requested in fiscal year 2020.

Document: Lawmakers' letter on C-130Js

The MQ-25 Stingray's ground control station will have a "vehicle management command and control capability" developed using the Common Control System, according to executives at Raytheon, the company on contract to integrate the system onto Navy platforms:

Early part of Navy's Common Control System to work with MQ-25

The MQ-25 unmanned aerial tanker will incorporate an early version of the Navy's Common Control System, a first step in the service’s long-term effort to create software capable of operating surface, sub-surface and aerial unmanned platforms.

Document: Navy memo on CCS

Reps. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), during a House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee hearing, expressed exasperation with acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan's recent public promises to name the location for a preferred third site for a ground-based interceptor field to bolster defenses against Iran and pressed the head of the Missile Defense Agency on the matter:

Lawmakers turn up heat on East Coast BMD site

Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, facing frustration from lawmakers impatient with the Defense Department for continuing to withhold findings of a study completed in 2016 about a potential East Coast missile defense site, said a decision about identifying a location for a notional new missile field was not his call.

The Navy's adding a third Virginia-class submarine to its FY-20 budget request is one of the major changes compared to projections from previous years:

Additional Virginia sub in FY-20 meant to signal to industry Navy's commitment

The Navy's addition of a third Virginia-class submarine in the fiscal year 2020 budget request is intended to signal its commitment and give contractors time to prepare for an increased production cadence in future years, according to the program manager.

The Pentagon has submitted a legislative proposal to Congress asking to base price reasonableness determinations on "actual cost and pricing data for purchases of the same or similar products for the Department of Defense":

Pentagon wants Congress to ease pricing data pulls

The Pentagon is asking Congress to loosen restrictions on some large acquisition programs by reducing the amount of data required to make determinations of "price reasonableness."

The Congressional Budget Office this week released a Space Force cost estimate:

CBO: Pentagon's Space Force proposal could cost $820M to $1.3B annually

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Pentagon's proposal to create a new Space Force could cost between $820 million and $1.3 billion annually to manage and operate and require $1.1 billion to $3 billion in one-time startup costs.

Document: CBO report on space organization personnel requirements, costs