Defense Business Alert

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said today the defense industrial base is making an "enormous recovery" after a three-month slowdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, but she stressed the continued need for supplemental funding in the "lower double-digit" billions to reimburse contractors for pandemic-related disruptions.

The Defense Department inspector general intends to audit sole-source depot maintenance contracts performed at contractor facilities to determine whether the military has negotiated "fair and reasonable" prices.

Some of the largest defense contractors say they're seeking to work with Congress to change or reverse a portion of the 2017 tax legislation that would, effective in 2022, require companies to delay writing off research and development costs.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai says he personally spoke with Defense Secretary Mark Esper prior to the FCC approving Ligado Networks' controversial spectrum license, and Pai pushed back on Pentagon claims in a new letter to lawmakers.

The economic slowdown brought on by COVID-19 could set back the Pentagon's nascent efforts to leverage commercial technologies, as venture capital funding recedes and big money government contracts for nontraditional companies remain elusive, according to new reports and interviews with Silicon Valley insiders.

Despite Airbus making a series of objections to the Navy's technical assessment of its proposal for a new training helicopter, the Government Accountability Office found the company's allegations are "without merit," according to a summary of the watchdog's decision.

Pentagon officials appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee today to call on the Federal Communications Commission to reverse its order approving Ligado's L-band network license, but some senators questioned the Defense Department's vehement opposition to the approval.

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said today that for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19, more defense companies are re-opening than closing.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) said today he doesn't think the Defense Department should receive industrial base stimulus money in an upcoming COVID-19 rescue package, but the DOD acquisition chief says the department is planning to ask for billions.