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.

The Pentagon is considering a series of recommendations for how it can fix vulnerabilities in its supply chain and convince contractors to take security as seriously as cost, schedule and performance.

The Pentagon has issued a "do not buy" list of software to its acquisition workforce with the goal of ensuring no software linked to Russia or China is used in Defense Department systems and the defense supply chain.

Defense Department Chief Management Officer Jay Gibson said the Pentagon is on track to exceed a savings of $4 billion in fiscal year 2018 that can be redirected to other military priorities thanks to an efficiency strategy that began in earnest shortly after he was confirmed by the Senate in February.

The Defense Department, alarmed at the volume of sensitive data being stolen through cyber exfiltration, is bolstering the importance of security in its acquisition programs.