Pentagon

The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee said today they support Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord's assessment that the Defense Department will need billions in supplemental funding to reimburse contractors for costs related to COVID-19.

The Senate Armed Services Committee's fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill would bar the Pentagon from complying with the Federal Communications Commission's decision to approve Ligado Networks' L-band network until the Defense Department submits cost estimates associated with potential GPS interference.

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.

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord told lawmakers today the Defense Department will need to spend low, "double-digit" billions reimbursing contractors disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but she asserted DOD does not have the resources to so do without supplemental funding.

The Defense Department's cost analysis and estimation work has barely been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the cost assessment and program evaluation office.

The Missile Defense Agency is readying a new Microwave Technology Testbed to mature directed-energy technologies that could be used to thwart hypersonic glide vehicles and cruise missiles.

Roles and responsibilities of the Defense Department and the accreditation body for its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program are detailed in a memorandum of understanding released this week, which spells out how government will work with industry to conduct cyber verification assessments for the defense industrial base.

The Pentagon will accelerate plans for a new space-based missile defense architecture if Congress increases funding in fiscal year 2021 for the Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor program, which could allow the U.S. military to put the "kernel" of a totally new network on orbit by FY-22, according to a senior Defense Department official.

The Government Accountability Office says it is encouraged by the progress the Pentagon has made managing cost growth and schedule delays in its $185 billion portfolio of major acquisition programs, but warns that many programs are proceeding without "fundamental knowledge" or oversight.