Defense Business Alert

The Justice Department said Thursday that United Technologies and Raytheon must divest Raytheon's military airborne radios business, UTC's military global positioning systems and UTC's large space-based optical systems businesses to move forward with the companies' planned merger.

The Pentagon's senior acquisition team has only just begun their first fully coordinated efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, and pledged today to move aggressively to prop up economically vulnerable defense contractors and field "demand signals" for medical supplies from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Navy's acquisition executive is ordering contracting officers to take steps to increase cash flow to contractors and their supply chains in response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a memo obtained by Inside Defense.

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord sent a memo to defense contractors today laying out which ones are deemed "critical" by the U.S. government and therefore expected to maintain their normal work schedules, despite the national emergency over COVID-19.

Lockheed Martin said today it has named James Taiclet president and chief executive, effective June 15.

The Defense Department was expecting to issue a proposed rule last year on banning contractor use of Huawei and ZTE products, but an interagency review scuttled those plans, a DOD contract official told industry representatives -- who were clamoring for a proposal rule to be issued as quickly as possible -- at a public meeting this week.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has endorsed the Defense Department sharing portions of the "mid-band" electromagnetic spectrum with the commercial wireless industry in order to better compete with China on fifth-generation telecommunications technology.

Pentagon officials concede the Defense Department's first-ever artificial intelligence principles are broad and somewhat vague, but say they are committed to the "hard work" of applying them into concrete actions, including through new contracting language and testing measures.

A leading industry lawyer on federal contracts is advising companies to move forward with cybersecurity audits and to adopt the use of draft standards as the Pentagon completes working on setting up its landmark certification program unveiled last month.