Pentagon

The Defense Department's acquisition office and its partners are in the process of adjudicating comments on an interim rule implementing their Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, which Pentagon leaders say will have an impact on the CMMC maturity model and assessment guides.

A cruise missile defense system to protect the U.S. homeland would cost between $75 billion and $466 billion, a hefty sum that would protect the lower 48 states only and could still be defeated by an adversary capable of launching a cruise missile from near the U.S. border in Mexico or Canada as well as from the sea, near the U.S. coastline -- raising questions about the efficacy of any such investment.

As the State Department pauses multiple foreign arms deals, defense contracting executives say they expect some potential delays, but remain optimistic international sales will mostly move forward.

Two Senate committees this week weighing the nomination of Neera Tanden, who has been tapped to run the White House Office of Management and Budget, spent little to no time discussing national security issues, but she did provide one panel with a written statement with her views on defense spending.

A bureaucratic maneuver last summer by the Office of the Secretary of Defense aimed at clipping the wings of the Missile Defense Agency has drawn an investigation and a statutory directive to halt any action that would lock in rules subjecting MDA to increased oversight by other arms of the Defense Department.

The U.S. military has delayed until 2028 plans for a major flight test to demonstrate the ability of three major ballistic missile defense systems to collaborate, a goal that if not further postponed will be 15 years after the Pentagon's top weapon tester called for the Navy and Army systems to establish rudimentary engagement coordination for theater-level threats.

The Defense Department last month launched a new study to assess emerging biotechnologies and national security, a project required by law that was supposed to begin a year ago and which will likely be further delayed due to a department-wide review of all federal advisory committee activity mandated by the defense secretary.

The House Armed Services Committee has announced the creation of two new subcommittees: one focused on intelligence and special operations, and the other dedicated to cyber issues and information technology.

The House Armed Services Committee today welcomed 16 new members, seven Democrats and nine Republicans.