The Insider

Vectrus today reported sales in its most recent quarter hit nearly $310 million, only slightly down from the roughly $313 million in sales the contractor reported in the same three-month period a year earlier.

Profit fell to $6 million, down from $6.1 million the prior year.

Vectrus' Afghanistan-based work made up nearly $46 million of the contractor's quarterly sales, down about $27 million from the same period a year earlier.

Ken Hunzeker, Vectrus' chief executive, said during a Thursday call with analysts the contractor is seeing increased use of fixed-price contracts and longer delays in contract awards.

Those delays result in extensions of contracts Vectrus already holds, he said, but also make it take longer to win new work.

From this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon:

1. DOD Working Final Skunk Works List To Accelerate Acquisition Programs

The Pentagon is in the process of compiling a final list of acquisition programs to become pilot "Skunk Works" initiatives aimed at accelerating the Defense Department's acquisition cycles and eliminating the current, document-based approach, according to a DOD spokeswoman.

Full story: http://ow.ly/QzQU3

2. DOD Readies New Pact For Special Ops Weapons Development With Allies

The United States and three of its closest allies -- the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia -- are preparing to ink a four-way agreement to allow their respective special operations forces to cooperatively develop and procure weapon system capabilities for use by all parties.

Full story: http://ow.ly/QzQJT

3. Pentagon Leaders Visit New Defense Innovation Unit In Silicon Valley

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall made a trip to Silicon Valley this week to visit a newly established unit charged with identifying emerging commercial technologies that could benefit defense.

Full story: http://ow.ly/QzR9a

4. Laser Weapon Program Has Not Yet Demonstrated All Of Its Technical Goals

A program designed to develop a much smaller and lighter laser weapon system to be integrated on tactical aircraft has not yet demonstrated all of its technical goals, as service and Missile Defense Agency officials look toward test results as indicators of the steps ahead, according to a recent report to lawmakers signed by the Pentagon's research and engineering chief.

Full Story: http://ow.ly/QzQq4

The Navy has awarded a $78 million, firm-fixed-price contract modification to Insitu for six Low-Rate Initial Production Lot 4 RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft systems.

This contract modification is for the air vehicles, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, spares and system engineering and program management, according to an Aug. 4 contract award announcement posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

In fiscal year 2016, the Navy plans to award a full-rate production contract to Insitu for nine Blackjack systems once the program passes a milestone review, service spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove wrote in a May 28 email to Inside the Navy.

The Blackjack is a combined Navy and Marine Corps program that provides persistent maritime and land-based tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance/target acquisition support for tactical-level maneuver decisions and unit-level force defense and force protection for naval amphibious assault ships, according to the Navy's budget justification documents. The FY-16 budget request revealed an additional three Blackjack systems will be purchased with wartime funding.

Boeing's defense business said this week it has named Gena Lovett, formerly chief diversity officer at Alcoa, its vice president of operations.

Lovett will take over for Bill Schnettgoecke, who spent 36 years with Boeing.

She will oversee manufacturing work at 20 facilities around the world, including handling lean manufacturing, safety and supplier management initiatives underway.

Lovett was Alcoa's director of manufacturing from 2007 to 2011 and also spent 15 years at Ford Motor Co.

The Defense Department inspector general is scheduled to release the results of several completed audits this month and has announced a list of new projects.

According to the IG's monthly newsletter, the following reports will be released within the next 30 days:

- Naval Compliance with the Berry Amendment and the Buy American Act for Selected Items. This audit determines whether Navy personnel complied with the Berry Amendment and the Buy American Act when it purchased covered items, such as food, clothing, tents, textiles, and hand or measuring tools.

- Defense Agencies Information Technology Contracts Issued Without Competition. This audit determines whether the Defense Agencies Information Technology contracts issued without competition were properly justified.

- Defense Logistics Agency Aviation Sole-Source Spare Parts Procurements from the General Electric Company. This audit determines whether the Defense Logistics Agency is purchasing sole-source spare parts at fair and reasonable prices from General Electric.

The IG also announced the following projects:

- An assessment of U.S. and Coalition Plans/Efforts to Train, Advise, Assist, and Equip the Tribal Resistance Forces. The objective of this assessment is to determine the extent to which U.S. and Coalition Force efforts to train, advise, and equip Tribal Resistance Forces have enabled their combat effectiveness and successful integration into the Iraqi National Security Forces.

- An assessment of Compliance with Section 847 Requirements for Senior Defense Officials Seeking Employment with Defense Contractors. The overall objective of this assessment is to conduct a review of DOD efforts to establish a centralized ethics opinion database pursuant to Public Law 110-181, Section 847 and submit a report to Congress by December 31, 2015.

- An audit of Sole-Source Spare Parts Procured for the Husky Mounted Detection System. The objective of this audit is to determine whether the Army is purchasing sole-source spare parts for the Husky Mounted Detection System at fair and reasonable prices from NIITEK, Inc.

- An Audit of Payment Controls Over Compound Drugs at the Defense Health Agency. The objective of this audit is to determine whether the Defense Health Agency implemented adequate controls for payments for compound drugs.

-An audit of Army Utility Energy Services Contracts. The objective of this audit is to determine whether the contracts and task orders related to Army Utility Energy Services Contracts were properly awarded and administered.

From this week's edition of Inside the Army:

A previously unreleased study by Army scientists finds the service is lagging a quarter-century behind the aerospace and automotive industries in advancing the use of lightweight materials for its vehicles.

Full story: Army Playbook On Dropping Vehicle Weight Finds Service Is 25 Years Behind

Following a somewhat hasty push to assemble a dedicated force of Army cyber soldiers, service officials now are trying to put the management of that talent on a more sustainable and affordable footing.

Full story: Officials Crafting 'Sustainable' Plan For Managing Army Cyber Soldiers

According to officials, the National Guard Bureau is on track to move forward in October with the transfer of an initial batch of 48 attack helicopters from the Guard to the active Army.

Full story: Guard Ready To Move Forward With Apache Transfers To Active Army

The Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $66.3 million contract for the Joint Air-To-Ground Missile program, following high-level approval last week to continue development of the munition. The company could eventually be tapped to build as many as 20,000 of the missiles.

Full story: Lockheed Gets $66 Million Joint Air-to-Ground Missile Contract