Supply Chain

The Pentagon has moved in recent years to better secure key technologies from potential adversaries like China, but those efforts are increasingly coming into conflict with the Defense Department's attempts to work with commercial businesses. 

The Federal Acquisition Security Council held its first meeting this week to begin developing a national strategy for securing the government's supply chain from cyber and other threats, with the Defense Department's strict cybersecurity rules likely to serve as a model. 

Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) today announced a new bill that would establish an office within the White House aimed at galvanizing stakeholders to stem the threat of intellectual property theft from China through forced technology transfers, and to secure the supply chain for critical technologies.

The Pentagon should throw its considerable political weight behind a longstanding proposal supported by industry to revise the anti-terrorism SAFETY Act by expanding its liability protections to address cybersecurity measures, according to recommendations in a MITRE Corp. report on securing the military's supply chain.

Senior intelligence officials on Monday said they want better information sharing arrangements and a more expansive role for the government in protecting the defense industrial base and critical infrastructure from threats to the U.S. supply chain, especially in cyberspace.

The U.S. defense industrial base is increasingly at risk, specifically from China, and in need of new, direct investments at the subcontractor level to prevent single points of failure and dependence on foreign sources, according to a long-awaited Pentagon report commissioned by President Trump.

Policy initiatives unfolding at the departments of Homeland Security and Defense are aiming for breakthroughs on addressing longstanding cyber supply-chain concerns, which could force major changes in how the government makes purchasing decisions, its interactions with industry in setting those requirements and the role of the Pentagon in protecting domestic digital assets -- including privately owned networks.

The Pentagon is unable to reliably demonstrate it has followed the law and enacted billions in overhead cost cuts sought by Congress to be reinvested into warfighting and weapon systems, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord said today the Pentagon is working on new standards for the procurement of intellectual property, something she acknowledged has long been a "thorny" issue between the government and defense contractors.