The Insider

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, lawmakers wanting more warship components to be domestically sourced and more.

We start off with our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity reporting on the relationship between controlled unclassified information and the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program:

PSC seeks closer alignment of NIST CUI publication with other cyber procurement requirements

The Professional Services Council wants the National Institute of Standards and Technology to consider how to align NIST's foundational guidance on handling controlled unclassified information with other cyber procurement requirements, including the Pentagon's cyber certification program.

Lawmakers have approved a provision in the annual defense policy bill that would mandate more warship components be domestically sourced:

Senate advances provision mandating domestic production of ship parts

The Senate approved an amendment to its defense policy bill aiming to boost “Buy America” requirements for Navy shipbuilding by mandating that certain components of naval vessels and auxiliary ships be produced by the United States technology and industrial base.

Along those same lines, the Defense Department is limiting which countries can produce engines for the Navy's auxiliary ships:

DOD limits auxiliary ship engine purchases to five-nation industrial base

Navy auxiliary ship engines must be made in countries that are part of a five-nation industrial and technology base, as outlined in a final rule the Defense Department issued Thursday.

A new Government Accountability Office report finds that "the iterative and fast-paced nature of Agile software development relies on flexible requirements, regular user engagement, and an understanding of the value of what has been delivered. DOD, however, has not incorporated these principles across all of its acquisition paths":

DOD to consider agile software updates after critical GAO findings

The Defense Department has told the Government Accountability Office it will consider tailoring some of its acquisition pathways to account for "agile" software development after a GAO report found that DOD lacks policy guidance in that area.

Document: GAO report on DOD software acquisition

The Army's top civilian official sees Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s nomination blockade having long-term effects:

Wormuth warns of 'brain and talent drain' caused by Tuberville blockade

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told an audience in Colorado Thursday that she worries that a "brain and talent drain" on the Army is one of the most severe consequences arising from Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) blockade of more than 250 military nominees due to his objection to the Pentagon's leave and travel reimbursement policies for servicemembers seeking abortion services.

U.S. European Command has issued a request for proposals to procure air and missile defense equipment for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in an effort to strengthen partnerships with NATO allies.

The RFP, issued July 20, states that the government anticipates awarding a sole source contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation for the acquisition of the Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2), Air and Missile Defense Workstation (AMDWS) and communications network systems. The equipment will help those nations integrate into NATO architecture for both air defense and counter-UAS to support homeland defense, it states.

Northrop Grumman, rather than the government, owns the technical data package for both FAAD C2 and AMDWS, the RFP notes. The company has also been the only source to provide the communications architecture, engineering, integration, installation, rocket artillery mortar warning hardware or logistics support for the counter-rocket, artillery and mortar network.

Offers are due July 31 and the award will be a definitive contract that will end Sept. 30, 2024, the notice states.

The RFP comes as the United States continues to send military aid to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. The latest package, announced earlier this week, includes counter-UAS and electronic warfare detection equipment.

Today’s INSIDER Daily Digest starts off with a Pentagon move to restrict auxiliary ship equipment purchases, a warning from the Army secretary, a hold on DOD reprogrammings that is causing headaches, and aircraft news involving the Navy’s F-18 and the Joint Strike Fighter program.

The Defense Department is limiting which countries can produce engines for the Navy’s auxiliary ships:

DOD limits auxiliary ship engine purchases to five-nation industrial base

Navy auxiliary ship engines must be made in countries that are part of a five-nation industrial and technology base, as outlined in a final rule the Defense Department issued Thursday.

The Army secretary sees Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s nomination blockade having long-term effects:

Wormuth warns of 'brain and talent drain' caused by Tuberville blockade

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told an audience in Colorado Thursday that she worries that a "brain and talent drain" on the Army is one of the most severe consequences arising from Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) blockade of more than 250 military nominees due to his objection to the Pentagon's leave and travel reimbursement policies for servicemembers seeking abortion services.

Another congressional holding action is also causing problems:

Congressional reprogramming 'hold' puts at risk priority modernization, INDOPACOM needs

A House lawmaker is effectively blockading Pentagon requests to shift funds between accounts -- denying the U.S. military the ability to use budgetary maneuvers routinely used to finance last-minute, high-priority needs -- in a move that could cripple critical modernization efforts, rotations essential to integrated deterrence strategy in the Indo-Pacific region and more.

A California congressman sees trouble for smaller contractors if the Navy pushes to obtain data rights from industry:

Garcia: Navy contractors could lose their 'seed corn' in data rights dispute

The business supply chain that supports repair and maintenance of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets will be put at risk if Boeing provides the Navy with intellectual data for the aircraft, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) told Inside Defense.

Lockheed may take a hit to its wallet if F-35 deliveries are delayed:

Lockheed Martin could lose millions this year in delayed F-35 deliveries

Though it reported generally positive results during its second quarter earnings call this week, Lockheed Martin executives said the company will see a loss upwards of $200 million this year from expected late deliveries of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets.

The Army will hold a briefing on follow-on contracts for its missile defense development program on Aug. 15 at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, according to a public notice.

The contracts will allow the Space and Missile Defense Command’s Design, Development, Demonstration and Integration program to develop a “broad range” of high-altitude, space and missile defense solutions, the notice said.

Performance requirements include identifying technology gaps and development of numerous systems and subsystems.

Solicitations will be categorized based on business type and focus area.

The first category is open to any type of business and includes all aspects of military, space operations and missile defense. Current contractors include BAE Systems, Dynetics, KBRWyle, Peraton, QWK, RTX, SAIC and TBE.

The second category is restricted to small businesses and includes enhancing warfighting capabilities, addressing capability gaps and data and information systems. Current contractors include COLSA, Cybex Serco, MEIT, Sentar and Torch.

The ordering period is five to 10 years with an option for an additional five-year period. The contract value has not yet been established but is estimated to range from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion for the first category and $1.5 billion to $2.05 billion for the second category.

A senior Pentagon official is pushing back on the categorization of delayed weapons deliveries to Taiwan as a "backlog," instead saying the roughly $19 billion list of undelivered military aid is the result of systemic problems within the U.S. defense industrial base.

“What we are facing is not a backlog as is sometimes described, but rather concerns and slowdowns within all of our industrial base that is affecting our military production and our defense industrial base systematically, not individually as it relates to Taiwan,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Ely Ratner said today during a hearing held by the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

The Defense Department is working to fulfill its commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act as soon as possible, Ratner continued, saying the Biden administration is working through the foreign military sales process while also utilizing presidential drawdown authority and potentially foreign military financing (FMF).

Ratner also encouraged lawmakers to “put appropriations against the authorities that Congress itself has granted the [Defense] Department.”

“That would go a long way in expediting capability for Taiwan far faster, far sooner, and with more significant value than would adjustments to the pace of our foreign military sales,” he added.

The select committee has advocated for arming Taiwan to deter a potential invasion or blockade by China and called for the Defense and State departments to drive down FMS delays.

In May, the committee released a bipartisan plan to arm Taiwan, calling for a boost in production of long-range missiles and unmanned vehicles. The plan also proposes the exercise of greater congressional oversight of the FMS process and backing up FMF authorizations with appropriation dollars targeting the most urgently needed capabilities.

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing earlier this year, a State Department official discussed efforts to work with U.S. contractors to accelerate delivery of items marked for Taiwan.

The State Department recently produced a 10-point plan to streamline the FMS process, acknowledging challenges posed by domestic industrial capacity and global supply chain disruptions.

The Senate Armed Services Committee today approved the nominations of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown, who has been picked to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Army Vice Chief Gen. Randy George, who has been selected to be the service's next chief of staff.

The nominees, however, will now be put in limbo as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) continues his blanket hold on all military nominations and promotions over his opposition to the Defense Department’s leave and travel reimbursement policies for servicemembers seeking abortion services.

The committee was recently briefed by DOD officials on the legality of the policies, leading Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) to declare any further opposition to be the product of either “willful ignorance or stubborn hubris.”

Tuberville and other Republicans, however, said after the briefing that they remain unconvinced that DOD’s policies are not an end-run around the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the spending of federal money on abortions.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a press conference yesterday that Democrats were willing to offer Tuberville a floor vote on a standalone amendment to the annual defense authorization bill currently under consideration -- a vote he would likely lose.

“Tuberville said he wanted a vote, we’ll see what happens,” Schumer said.

The Senate has begun voting on its version of the annual defense authorization bill, beginning today with the consideration of various amendments.

The bill, among a host of other things, authorizes $886 billion in defense spending and a 5.2% military pay increase. The measure isn't a spending bill, however, and doesn't actually allocate funding, which still requires the passage of a separate appropriations bill.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) said on the chamber floor that the bill also authorizes resources for military modernization programs and cutting-edge technologies.

He noted the bill was advanced out of committee by a vote of 24-1, the most bipartisan margin in years.

The Senate, Reed said, will consider 51 amendments to the bill -- 21 Democratic, 21 Republican and nine bipartisan.

Among the first amendments being considered is one from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) that requires congressional approval if a U.S. president wants to withdraw from NATO.

Another amendment offered by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) would clarify the term “aggregate value” as it relates to presidential “drawdown” authority following a $6 billion Pentagon accounting error in aid provided to Ukraine.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said during a GOP leadership press conference today that he believed the bill would pass with bipartisan support, though the voting would likely be stretched into next week.

“I would think at the end of the process the [bill] would pass on a pretty strong bipartisan basis,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a press conference today that the process is playing out smoothly thus far.

“The bottom line is that we want to get this done without amendments that don't undo the bill, are dilatory in any way and so far our Republican colleagues are cooperating,” he said.

The House passed its version of the bill in a tight vote last week and included several politically controversial measures backed by conservative Republicans taking aim at Pentagon policies related to diversity initiatives, abortion and climate change. The bill advanced out of committee by a vote of 58-1 but only four Democrats ended up supporting the amended version when it came to the House floor.

The Democrat-led Senate’s bill is expected to forgo the House’s politically charged provisions -- though some will receive floor votes -- and many lawmakers say they will be stripped out of the final product when the legislation goes into conference committee negotiations.