13% Decrease in FY’22 Defense Contracting
Federal contract spending declined by 7% in fiscal 2022, driven largely by a 13% decrease in defense spending, which offset the 5% increase in contract spending among civilian agencies.
Senate Committee Ups DoD Budget
Lawmakers look to provide the Pentagon with its annual budget — the Department of Defense Appropriation Act — before the current continuing resolution funding the government expires Dec. 3. But it’s not necessarily the budget the Pentagon requested.
DoD Tests Cheap Drone Busters
After soliciting whitepapers in May, the Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office and the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office chose five solutions to go up against threat targets at Yuma Proving Ground. The five drone busters are Northrop Grumman’s XM1211 30mm Proximity Round, the Smash Hopper from Smart Shooter, Flex Force’s Agile Small Deflection Precision Stabilized Weapon System, IXI’s DroneKiller, and the DroneGun MKIII from Drone Shield.
Military Firearms Keep Disappearing
An investigation has found that at least 1,900 US military firearms were lost or stolen during the 2010s, with some resurfacing in violent crimes.
55 Marylanders in Naval Academy’s Class of ’21
The US Naval Academy held its commencement Friday in Annapolis with Vice President Kamala Harris giving the keynote address. There were 1,084 graduates and 55 of them were Marylanders.
F-35 Provides 254,000 American Jobs
Lockheed wants you to know its F-35 generates more than $49 billion annually and teams with nearly 1,900 US suppliers, including more than 1,000 small business suppliers, in 45 states and Puerto Rico.
Inauguration Day: What It Took to Get Here
Welcome to Inauguration Day, being held this year amid a pandemic and unprecedented threats of violence as Joe Biden becomes president of the United States and Kamala Harris enters history as the first female vice president of the US. Some of the road and bridge closures and other accommodations are reported here.
Norquist to Be Acting DefSec After Inauguration
David Norquist will serve as acting secretary of defense for the start of the Biden administration. Deputy DefSec since July 2019, Mr. Norquist will be in charge until the Senate confirms retired Army GEN Lloyd Austin for the position.
Govt. Agencies Could Be at Risk After Suspected Russian Hack
All federal civilian executive branch agencies have been directed to search their networks for indications they were compromised after the US Commerce Department was hacked. The hackers entered US systems through updates by the software company that also provides services to the White House, the Pentagon, and NASA.
Cautious Election Optimism: No Cyber Attack, Yet
Federal officials reported cautious optimism Wednesday morning that no malicious cyber attacks occurred on Election Day, but warned that the danger still exists in the days following the presidential election including potential violence when the results are known later in the week.
