The Office of the Secretary of Defense has directed the Navy to fund 21 EA-18G Growlers in the fiscal year 2014 budget, reversing previous plans to end production of the electronic-warfare aircraft, according to service and industry sources.

The Defense Contract Management Agency has formally approved a plan by Lockheed Martin to fix deficiencies in its earned value management system, a business tool used to track cost and schedule on major programs, clearing the way for Lockheed to resume collecting payments that have been withheld for months.

The Navy is maintaining and sustaining its aging fleet of EP-3E Airborne Reconnaissance Integrated Electronic System II aircraft, as well as other secretive Special Projects Aircraft, to support the requirements of combatant commanders, the Pentagon has told Congress.

The next Quadrennial Defense Review process may be less involved than in past years but will likely yield "consequential" results in the end, the Marine Corps' QDR representative told reporters this morning.

U.S. Cyber Command is establishing cyber mission teams to support each military service and other combatant command missions and will "soon" be able to operate on their own, according to the command's top official.

Top defense officials have revamped plans for an Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike capability following a review of the military's entire unmanned aircraft inventory, recommending the Office of the Secretary of Defense update by March 31 the analysis of alternatives for the fledgling Navy acquisition project.

The Defense Information Systems Agency is gearing up to release a cloud computing request for proposals, the first since the department's cloud computing strategy was released last year, said Tony Montemarano, the agency's director of strategic planning and information.

The Army is on track to reach its efficiency goals it set out to achieve from fiscal years 2012 through 2016, a direct result of the service's capability portfolio reviews, according to an Army spokesman.

The Defense Department has increased the scope of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile project, awarding Lockheed Martin a second installment of an expanded work package on the next-generation weapon.

The Army has released a draft request for proposals outlining a new acquisition strategy for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle that calls for proceeding with a single engineering and manufacturing development contract as a cost-saving measure.

The Pentagon is seeking congressional permission to reprogram funds appropriated in fiscal year 2012 to finance two airpower-related projects: a new high-tech mechanical arm mounted on armored trucks designed to rapidly clear airfields of unexploded ordnance, and upgrades to the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft system operated by U.S. Special Operations Forces.

Beechcraft Corp. filed a lawsuit yesterday in federal court in an attempt to stop the Air Force from producing light-attack aircraft for the Afghan military until after a government agency has ruled on a bid protest the company filed in early March.

The Air Force has surpassed its goal of reducing fuel consumption by 10 percent several years ahead of schedule, two senior service officials said today.

The Defense Department will ask lawmakers to approve nearly $70 million in new counterterrorism aid for Libya, Nigeria and the Philippines, among other countries, according to an administration report to Congress.

Air Force reserve component leaders are concerned that ongoing congressional budget issues may negatively impact modernization plans for Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard aircraft efforts, in particular F-16 targeting pods and the C-130's fuel control system.

Pentagon officials likely will jump through the hoops of a federal rulemaking process to satisfy a new legal requirement aimed at forcing defense contractors with access to secret government information to report network hacking incidents to the Defense Department.

The Army in June will launch a pilot capability portfolio review process centered on eliminating infantry brigade combat team redundancies, a departure from previous reviews' focus on mission areas like precision fires or intelligence, according a senior service leader.

The Navy is delaying until late spring a review, previously set for last summer, of the Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules program, holding up the disclosure of how much it will cost to field the shore-hugging ships with their full combat capability.

The Air Force today successfully launched its second Space-Based Infrared System geosynchronous Earth orbit satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.

The House Armed Services readiness subcommittee will take a hard look this year at how to bring equipment back from Afghanistan, what to keep and how to fix it up, and how to transition away from the way the United States has fought war since 2001 and into whatever future threats may require, according to the subcommittee's new chairman.