The Insider

APL Limited has agreed to pay the U.S. government $9.8 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act in connection with a Pentagon contract, the Justice Department announced today.

The contract required APL to attach satellite tracking devices to shipping containers traveling from Pakistan to U.S. bases in Afghanistan, according to the Justice Department's announcement. The government alleges APL billed the Defense Department, even though it knew "the tracking devices completely or partially failed to transmit data, or were not affixed to shipping containers.

"The government also claims that APL attached a single satellite tracking device to two shipping containers despite being required to affix one device to every container," the Justice Department continued.

APL, based in Scottsdale, AZ, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines Limited. The claims resolved by the settlement remain allegations, and there has been no determination of liability.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today that the United States has a new strategy to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that will include more ground raids with U.S. special forces personnel and increased airstrikes.

"We won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"From the skies above, we expect to intensify our air campaign, including with additional U.S. and coalition aircraft, to target ISIL with a higher and heavier rate of strikes," Carter continued. "This will include more strikes against ISIL high-value targets as our intelligence improves, and also its oil enterprise, which is a critical pillar of ISIL's financial infrastructure. As I said last Friday, we've already begun to ramp up these deliberate strikes."

Carter's comments come on the heels of a successful operation last week in which U.S. special forces helped the Iraqi military free 70 hostages from an ISIL-controlled prison. However, the mission resulted in the death of Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, who became the first U.S. servicemember to die in Iraq from hostile action since 2011.

"While our mission in Iraq is to train, advise, and assist our Iraqi partners, in situations such as that operation -- where we have actionable intelligence and a capable partner force -- we want to support our partners," he said, referencing the questions raised by whether or nor Wheeler's death amounted to a recommitment to U.S. ground forces in Iraq.

Carter also made it clear the United States was not ceding the battlefield to Russia as it increases its efforts to prop up the embattled regime of Bashar al Assad in Syrian.

"To be clear, we are not cooperating with Russia, and we are not letting Russia impact the pace or scope of our campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria," he said.

Carer said the United States would continue its new effort to provide equipment and assistance to the leaders of the Syrian opposition, rather than equip and train individual recruits.

"While the old approach was to train and equip completely new forces outside of Syria before sending them into the fight, the new approach is to work with vetted leaders of groups that are already fighting ISIL, and provide equipment and some training to them and support their operations with airpower," he said. "This approach builds on successes that local Syrian Arab and Syrian Kurdish forces have made along Syria's northern border to retake and hold ground from ISIL with the help of U.S. airstrikes and equipment resupplies."

A heads-up for later this afternoon:

Air Force bomber award coming today

The Air Force will announce the winner of the Long-Range Strike Bomber contract today at 5:15 p.m., according to a Pentagon statement.

Looks like a bipartisan budget deal is close to fruition:

Defense to benefit as Congress outlines budget deal

Congressional leaders have agreed to a potential bipartisan budget deal that would raise the debt ceiling and lift sequestration spending caps by $80 billion for the next two fiscal years, with the Obama administration poised to receive $33 billion of the $38 billion national defense spending increase it has sought for fiscal year 2016, according to official documents and sources familiar with the still-emerging details.

Document: Bipartisan Budget Act Of 2015

A federal appeals court has upheld a court decision backing the Air Force's effort to award a new contract in the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar program:

Court backs Air Force effort to award new 3DELRR deal

The Air Force can continue its effort to award a new contract in the hotly contested Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar program after the Court of Federal Appeals upheld the Court of Federal Claims' decision.

The Navy and Air Force want common components for the nuclear triad:

Navy, Air Force conducting triad commonality study to cut costs

The Navy and Air Force are conducting a study about common components across the nuclear triad in order for the military to modernize the force while cutting cost, according to a senior Navy official.

The Army is facilitating a lot of military sales to Africa:

Army saw jump in African foreign military sales in fiscal year 2015

The Army's foreign military sales saw a significant jump within U.S. Africa Command, with transfers in fiscal year 2015 surpassing FY-14 numbers by more than 100 cases, according to the Army's Security Assistance Command.

Though several media reports have surfaced today indicating that Democrats and Republicans are close to an accord that would lift the debt ceiling and fund the federal government for the next two fiscal years, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stressed that a deal has yet to be inked.

"Nothing is agreed to in the context of those discussions until everything is agreed to," he said Oct. 26. "As I stand here today, not everything has been agreed to and that means that nothing at this point has been agreed to."

Earnest said increased defense spending -- matched by a "dollar for dollar" increase in other government funding -- needs to be at the core of any deal that would lift the spending caps imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act, also known as sequestration.

At present, the GOP has put forth spending plans that circumvent the BCA caps for defense by using the exempt overseas contingency operations account, while leaving them in place for other areas of government.

"We have acknowledged that any sort of budget agreement will be a compromise," he said. "And that means that there will be things included in that bill that we're not very happy about."

For instance, some media outlets reported that lawmakers have agreed on cuts to Medicare and Social Security, some of which could be reinvested for increases in defense and non-defense spending.

"However much they can come up with in savings, and whatever they decide is the defense versus non-defense split will determine how much defense gets," according a Hill staffer. "I think most people agree it's a two-year deal or bust."

Congress has until Nov. 3 to raise the debt ceiling and until Dec. 11 to keep the federal government funded.

Meanwhile, the House is set to vote Thursday on a speaker to succeed Rep. John Boenher (R-OH), who is retiring at the end of the month. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has emerged as a leading candidate after securing the support of many in the GOP's anti-spending wing known as the Freedom Caucus. Ryan, along with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), helped cobble together a compromise to avert federal shutdown in 2013.

Known as the Murray-Ryan deal, the law raised BCA caps for FY-14 and FY-15 in return for extending the imposition of the caps into 2022 and 2023 for a projected $23 billion long-term cut to the federal deficit.

Earnest said the White House continued to see the Murray-Ryan deal as the standard for a new compromise.

"We're hopeful Democrats and Republicans will pursue a similar template," he said.

Posted this morning:

Unisys exec says company's commercial background helps in today's environment

As the Defense Department pushes for more innovative technology, the head of Unisys' defense and intelligence business says her company's heavy focus on the commercial sector gives it a leg up.

The Navy won't be able to finish up its Littoral Combat Ship strategy until the FY-16 budget is finalized:

LCS acquisition strategy won't be finalized until budget outlook clarifies

The Navy's plan for acquiring the last of its baseline Littoral Combat Ships will not be finalized until Congress reaches some sort of agreement on the fiscal year 2016 budget, according to the head of Naval Sea Systems Command.

The Army is looking at Israel's Iron Dome short-range missile defense system:

Army eyes Israel's Iron Dome interceptor for its base-protection system

The Army is slated to test next March the Israeli Tamir interceptor missile under an emerging U.S. program to protect outposts from aerial drones and cruise missiles, officials tell Inside the Army.

The head of SOUTHCOM spoke with reporters last week:

Long-term CR could leave SOUTHCOM chief with 'less than nothing'

The head of U.S. Southern Command warned last week that a long-term continuing resolution would prove "catastrophic" for his domain.

A new GAO report is out on strategic sourcing:

DOD: Army, Air Force analyses of IT services spending due next year

The Army and Air Force are beginning "in-depth" analyses of spending on information technology services so they can identify ways to meet their requirements with strategic sources, according to a top Pentagon official.

Document: GAO Report On Strategic Sourcing

The rest of the front page from this week's Inside the Army:

Army Reserve chief bristles at Guard's thrust to claim primary combat role

The chief of the Army Reserve has rejected a suggestion by National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Frank Grass that the Guard be formally designated as the Army's primary combat reserve.

Army Commission to tee up acquisition-reform recommendations

Members of the National Commission on the Future of the Army last week indicated their upcoming report would touch on the well-trodden path of acquisition reform.

Bigger motor, punchier warhead sought in Army's new long-range missile

The Army believes a new program is needed for developing a missile that can travel 499 kilometers, just up to the limit of a landmark, Cold War-era arms control treaty.

Highlights from this week's edition of Inside the Army:

1. The chief of the Army Reserve has rejected a suggestion by National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Frank Grass that the Guard be formally designated as the Army's primary combat reserve.

Full Story: Army Reserve chief bristles at Guard's thrust to claim primary combat role

2. Members of the National Commission on the Future of the Army last week indicated their upcoming report would touch on the well-trodden path of acquisition reform.

Full Story: Army Commission to tee up acquisition-reform recommendations

3. The Army believes a new program is needed for developing a missile that can travel 499 kilometers, just up to the limit of a landmark, Cold War-era arms control treaty.

Full Story: Bigger motor, punchier warhead sought in Army's new long-range missile

Congressional hearings this week are scheduled to feature Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford, and several defense acquisition experts.

Meanwhile, the GOP is scheduled to elect a new House speaker to continue budget negotiations with the White House and the anti-spending wing of the party.

Tuesday

Carter and Dunford are scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Link: http://1.usa.gov/1PLTQxW

The House Armed Services Committee is skated  to hold a hearing with experts to discuss shortening the defense acquisition cycle.

Link: http://1.usa.gov/1OMNeQw

Textron and Orbital ATK report quarterly earnings.

Wednesday

Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, NCI, CACI International and ManTech International announce their quarterly earnings.

Republicans are slated to nominate a new House speaker to succeed Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), who is planning to retire at the end of the month.

Thursday

The GOP is scheduled to elect a new House speaker.

The Defense Writers Group is scheduled to host Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).

Leidos and Oshkosh report quarterly earnings.

Friday

Rockwell Collins releases its quarterly earnings report.