The INSIDER daily digest -- Oct. 18, 2019

By John Liang / October 18, 2019 at 2:06 PM

This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, an Air Force counter-drone technology, Army multidomain operations and more.

We start off with some big Joint Strike Fighter news:

F-35 full-rate production decision delayed up to 13 months

The Pentagon confirmed today the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter full-rate production decision, which was expected in December, could be delayed by 13 months due to delays in integrating the Joint Simulation Environment.

ATA Technologies, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Kord Technologies as well as the Air Force Research Laboratory's Tactical High-Power Operational Responder -- a high-power microwave integrated by BAE Systems -- are being tested for a counter-drone capability:

USAF directed-energy counter-drone demo begins, as program of record discussions progress

The Air Force's directed-energy experimentation campaign has started another round of counter-drone testing with five different systems that management officials are exploring for an anticipated program of record.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Todd chatted with Inside Defense at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting:

Army developing 'flying network' for multidomain operations

The Army is developing a "digital backbone" for its aircraft while modernizing the current fleet, according to the program executive officer for aviation.

(Follow our comprehensive coverage of the AUSA conference here.)

Paul Jacob, cybersecurity architect and "lead DOD zero trust architect" within the office of the DOD chief information officer, spoke at a conference this week hosted by the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology:

DOD developing 'zero-trust' cloud security guidance for eventual transition to JEDI

The Defense Department is developing guidance for securely connecting national security systems and other devices to the pending Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure commercial cloud environment using a "zero trust" security framework, according to a defense official.

Defense Department Special Assistant for Cybersecurity Katie Arrington spoke this week at the Consortium for Information and Software Quality meeting. Here's coverage from our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity:

Funding DOD through CRs could scuttle cyber certification program, Arrington warns

The Pentagon's landmark cybersecurity certification program could be scuttled if Congress ends up funding the military through a series of continuing resolutions until after the election, according to Defense Department Special Assistant for Cybersecurity Katie Arrington.

DOD's Arrington says cyber certification 'is happening' despite calls for go-slow approach

Defense Department Special Assistant for Cybersecurity Katie Arrington said the Pentagon's maturity model for certifying contractors based on their ability to secure data and systems is moving forward, with a revised version of the plan to be released at the beginning of November for use in contracts next year, despite calls from industry and others to slow down the implementation process.

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