Saturday, April 20, 2024
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Today’s INSIDER includes news from a House hearing on the Joint Strike Fighter, a new cost estimate for the Air Force’s next generation ICBM and the Air Force’s fiscal year 2021 budget:
At a hearing today, House lawmakers learned about an F-35 contractor dispute:
Lockheed awaiting F-35 IP protest decision that delayed key IOT&E testing phase
The head of the F-35 joint program office revealed today that a dispute between the government and prime contractor Lockheed Martin over intellectual property rights -- which has driven delays integrating the jet into a new Joint Simulation Environment -- is currently under protest and awaiting a decision from the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.
The Defense Department is working to estimate a new cost for a major weapon system:
Pentagon plans to revisit GBSD price tag in late spring
The Defense Department plans to update the cost estimate for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent in late spring of next year, setting the stage for a potential major recalibration of the price tag for the new ballistic missile program that generated a pair of valuations in 2017 that varied by more than $20 billion.
A NATO official told reporters today that 5G telecommunications are on the agenda for a meeting this week:
NATO officials to discuss 5G this week at industry forum in Washington
NATO officials will discuss fifth-generation telecommunications this week in Washington, as U.S. officials press European nations to bar Chinese companies like Huawei from the buildout of their 5G networks.
The Air Force sees some potential challenges in justifying its next budget:
Roper: Defending USAF’s FY-21 budget will be ‘an uphill climb’
Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper told reporters today he expects the service will have a difficult time defending its fiscal year 2021 budget request, largely because it recommends shifting billions of dollars from legacy platforms to a digital infrastructure Congress may not be ready to embrace.
The Defense Department has drawn up a new list of critical technologies:
Pentagon task force ‘operationalizing’ list of critical technologies
A high-level Pentagon task force has compiled a list of critical technologies and programs as part of the Defense Department’s efforts to ensure its contractors better protect vital military information from being stolen by competitor nations like China.