Pentagon

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill that would repeal a previous provision requiring large defense contractors to reimburse the Pentagon for the cost of processing losing bid protests.

A Senate panel is proposing legislation to re-instate -- after a brief hiatus -- the requirement for the Pentagon to produce an annual aviation inventory and funding plan, a move that could provide lawmakers as well as aerospace and defense analysts insight into the U.S. long-term investment plans for the approximately 14,000 aircraft flown by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

​Lawmakers are proposing new reporting requirements for the Next Generation Interceptor development program that could -- if enacted -- impose additional congressional oversight on the new counter-intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system.

A key House panel has declined to endorse the Pentagon's plans for a a layered homeland ballistic missile defense architecture based on the newest Aegis ballistic missile interceptor and a new variant of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor and instead directed a comprehensive analysis of alternatives for the mission to be conducted.

The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee is proposing legislation it hopes will focus the Space Development Agency's mission on top Defense Department priorities -- like the planned transport and missile warning layers -- and encourage greater use of commercial services.

A House panel is proposing legislation that would direct the Navy to arm DDG-1000 destroyers with an intermediate-range hypersonic weapon, require a sweeping analysis of alternatives before the Missile Defense Agency commits to a new layered homeland defense architecture, require the president to participate in an annual nuclear command and control exercise, and provide an unclassified report on foreign nuclear weapon programs.

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission is advocating for getting up to 20 recommendations from the group's report included in this year's defense policy bill, according to commission Executive Director Mark Montgomery, who says the creation of a national cyber director and a Joint Cyber Planning Cell within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are among the top priorities.

Senate authorizers did not adopt Cyber Solarium Commission recommendations to require defense contractors to participate in a threat intelligence sharing program and use threat hunting capabilities on their networks, as lawmakers sought to bolster existing Defense Department initiatives like the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, according to a Senate aide.

A new Defense Space Strategy released today highlights four priority lines of effort the Pentagon plans to pursue in order to ensure it is positioned to "compete, deter and win" against future threats: build a comprehensive military advantage in space; integrate military spacepower into national, joint and combined operations; shape the strategic environment; and cooperate with allies, partners, industry and other U.S. government agencies.