Pentagon

The independent accreditation body developing standards for auditors and assessors under the Defense Department's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program has circulated information on how the provisional program will work, including fees and an initial structure for the selection process for third-party assessors.

Pentagon Chief Management Officer Lisa Hershman, responding to the new Defense Business Board recommendation that her office be disestablished for being "mostly ineffective," said the board did not properly weigh "significant accomplishments" of the past two years.

The Defense Business Board is recommending the Pentagon eliminate the post of chief management officer on the grounds the position has been "mostly ineffective" and was "never set up for success," according to slides presented today at a public hearing.

North Korean advances in developing intercontinental ballistic missile technology will require the Air Force to radiate a much higher-intensity signal from the Missile Defense Agency's newest ground sensor -- the Long Range Discrimination Radar -- than the U.S. military anticipated in 2016 when launching the Alaska-based project.

The Defense Department last month launched a major overhaul of the nation’s ballistic missile defense system without first securing an independent cost estimate, eschewing what federal auditors say is a best practice for major weapon projects.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed today the Pentagon intends to seek supplemental funding from Congress to help finance its response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including money to “keep priming” the defense industrial base, especially small suppliers and subcontractors.

Auditors under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification will be prohibited from consulting with companies they are certifying in an effort to create "checks and balances," according to DOD acquisition Chief Information Security Officer Katie Arrington.

The Missile Defense Agency is fleshing out its plan to potentially disaggregate the Ground-based Midcourse Defense sustainment contract, detailing the scope of Next Generation Interceptor development and procurement in a new solicitation that could set the stage for a major realignment of industry participation in the Pentagon's marquee homeland missile defense project as soon as fiscal year 2021.

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.