Pentagon

One of the Pentagon's top acquisition officials told Inside Defense this month he sees the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program as critical -- despite industry's complaints.

The Pentagon's second highest ranking military officer said today one of his top priorities is updating the Defense Department's requirements process in line with "information age" technology, as he called DOD's current methods for building software "horrible."

An accreditation body that will certify third parties to audit the cybersecurity practices of Defense Department contractors is expected to form its complete board of directors by the end of next week, clearing the way for signing a Memorandum of Understanding with DOD acquisition officials by the beginning of February, according to officials involved in the effort.

Lockheed Martin has nabbed a lead role in another hypersonic weapons program, winning the sole contract for the third phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Operational Fires program -- a project launched in 2018 to develop and demonstrate a new surface-to-surface precision fires weapon that ground forces can use to penetrate sophisticated enemy air defenses.

The Government Accountability Office has noticed the Defense Department's increased emphasis on accelerating its notoriously slow acquisition system, but the watchdog agency is concerned weapon system reliability might be sacrificed at the expense of speed.

The Missile Defense Agency is armed with nearly $400 million in fiscal year 2020 for its fledgling counter hypersonics program, including $25 million to support the immediate launch of a new weapon system project to defeat hypersonic glide vehicles.

Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord provided new details today on the U.S. effort to field counter-drone technology, saying the military is working with foreign allies to test and evaluate a variety of potential systems.

An influential advisory board says the Pentagon must "vigorously" pursue three quantum technology areas with particular military potential.

The Defense Department's No. 2 official has issued new guidance to clarify "acquisition roles and responsibilities" after recent congressional reforms led to Pentagon infighting regarding the oversight and management of DOD weapons programs.