Brown pushing for supplemental bill that would inject billions into U.S. defense industry

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown said he and other officials are working hard to get lawmakers to support a $95 billion supplemental spending package that would inject tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. defense industry, while also aiding Ukraine and Israel. “Eighty percent of that money comes back into our defense industrial base, our American workforce, American jobs,” he said during an event hosted by the Defense Writers Group in Washington. “We’ve got to talk...

Army seeks new-start LASSO in FY-25 to make infantry 'as lethal as armored brigades'

The Pentagon is seeking new-start authority in fiscal year 2025 to begin buying a man-portable, tube-launched, uncrewed aircraft called the Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) as part of the Army's Family of Low Altitude Unmanned Systems program -- an effort to give dismounted infantry next-generation tank-killing capability. The Army’s fiscal year 2025 budget request includes $120 million to buy 31 semi-autonomous LASSO unmanned aerial systems -- slated for units based in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility...

CRS report on the 2024 Army force structure transformation initiative 

The March 28, 2024 Congressional Research Service report examines "the national security implications of the Army's planned transformation; the transformation of the Reserve Component; the total cost and duration of the transformation; and additional considerations, such as populating, equipping, and basing the new force structure."

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The INSIDER daily digest -- March 28, 2024

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on F-35 Joint Strike Fighter sustainment costs, Navy unmanned platforms, U.S. Central Command's unfunded priorities and more. The cost to sustain the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has gone down over the past decade: F-35 sustainment cost fell 34% between 2014 and 2022 The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's sustainment price tag is slowly dropping after being one of the Defense Department's costliest combat aircraft for decades, the F-35 Joint Program Office told...

DIB cybersecurity strategy outlines four goals to prevent threats

Senior officials spoke about the four goals of the Defense Department's 2024 Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Strategy, adding that the strategy comes at a time when adversaries are specifically targeting DIB contractors. The strategy, released today, aims to create a stronger, more "cyber-secure" defense industrial base through a centralized approach that builds a framework that can remain on the cutting edge of innovation, while securing the defense ecosystem in cyberspace. “The Department, in coordination with the DIB, seeks to build...

Defense industrial base cyber strategy

On March 28, 2024 the Pentagon released its 2024 Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Strategy.

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Defense ISAC releases 'shopping guide' to assist small businesses with selecting assessor for CMMC certification

The National Defense Information Sharing and Analysis Center has published a “shopping guide” to help small and medium-sized businesses pick an assessor who meets their needs to reach compliance with the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program. The guide is designed to “address the challenges presented to an SMB when vetting an assessor for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC),” and was developed by SMBs across the defense industrial base and feedback from CMMC third-party assessment organizations. “It is important to...

DOD IG report on the Navy's execution of funds to assist Ukraine

The March 26, 2024 Defense Department inspector general's report "reviewed disbursements from the $1.7 billion in Ukraine supplemental funds appropriated to the Navy."

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F-35 sustainment cost fell 34% between 2014 and 2022

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's sustainment price tag is slowly dropping after being one of the Defense Department's costliest combat aircraft for decades, the F-35 Joint Program Office told Inside Defense . “We have continued to reduce sustainment costs through growth and maturation of the F-35 enterprise including JPO Product Support Manager efforts to drive down contract costs; better alignment of U.S. services requirements and budgets; and an active cost-reduction initiative pipeline,” JPO spokesman Russell Goemaere said in an email...

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