Thursday, January 16, 2025
Thursday, January 16, 2025
This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Defense Department signing a defense supply chain agreement with Germany, small businesses being awarded Pentagon contracts, the DOD inspector general looking into U.S. aid to Ukraine and more.
A bilateral, non-binding Security of Supply Arrangement was signed in Brussels yesterday by Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante and Head of the Directorate-General for Equipment within the Federal Ministry of Defence Vice Adm. Carsten Stawitzki:
DOD inks supply chain agreement with Germany
The Pentagon has entered a new agreement with the German military meant to bolster defense industrial supply chains, an increasingly urgent priority for both nations since the start of the war in Ukraine.
A number of small businesses have been awarded Pentagon contracts:
DOD, SBA announce funds for new critical technology investment initiative
The Defense Department and the Small Business Administration announced the first group of Small Business Investment Company licensees and “green light approved” investment funds under the agencies' joint initiative Monday.
The objective of an Oct. 22 Defense Department inspector general's audit "was to determine whether the DOD used Ukraine assistance funds in accordance with Federal laws and DOD policies":
IG finds Pentagon paperwork lacking on Ukraine aid
The Defense Department inspector general's office has found the Pentagon has not adequately documented more than $1 billion in U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, raising concerns that the funds may not have been used as intended.
Document: DOD IG audit of execution of funds to assist Ukraine
Lockheed Martin reported its quarterly earnings this week:
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics sales slip 3% due to withheld payment as F-35 negotiations drag
Aeronautics sales for defense prime Lockheed Martin fell nearly 3% in the third quarter of 2024 -- from $6.7 billion to $6.5 billion -- compared to one year earlier, the company told investors today, attributing the loss directly to contractual and technical issues on its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
In an Oct. 16 memo, the DOD IG announces an audit "to assess the effectiveness with which the DOD conducted enhanced end-use monitoring of designated defense articles provided to the State of Israel":
DOD watchdog to audit U.S. weapons transfers to Israel
The Pentagon inspector general announced a new audit today to determine whether the Defense Department's "enhanced end-use monitoring" of U.S. weapons being provided to Israel has been effective.
Document: DOD IG memo on monitoring of defense articles provided to Israel
A recent Government Accountability Office report "assesses the extent to which (1) the Army's watercraft fleet is able to meet current and future mission requirements, and (2) the Army has taken steps to address or mitigate maintenance challenges to its watercraft fleet":
Army planning future end state for floundering watercraft fleet
The Army is revising a 2018 modernization strategy for its dwindling fleet of ships that "will outline the vision and future end state for Army watercraft by 2030 and 2040," according to a Government Accountability Office report released last week.
Document: GAO report on the Army's watercraft fleet