defense contractors | The Contracting Education Academy

January 15, 2021 By cs

DoD bringing companies into the fold for sensitive info

After a years long pilot, the Defense Department is establishing a permanent program that will let some trusted companies in on critical military information to help build needed systems.

“As the world sees a return to great power competition, DoD must strengthen its engagement with the defense industrial base in order to respond to the national security challenges facing the United States in a more responsive and cost efficient manner,” a Dec. 15 memo signed by Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord states.

The memo goes on to state that, increasingly, technologies and information are squirreled away in special access programs.

Those are programs that exceed regular classified information and entail highly sensitive operations and black projects.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/dod-reporters-notebook-jared-serbu/2021/01/dod-stands-up-permanent-program-to-give-vendors-access-to-top-tier-secrets/

Download the Dec. 15, 2020 DoD memo on the subject of “Special Access Program Contractor Portfolio Program Establishment” at: https://fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/sap-contractor.pdf

September 16, 2020 By cs

Pentagon, Defense contractors are out of step on tech innovation, GAO finds

The Pentagon wanted to fund ambitious research into future tech breakthroughs but contractors spend most of their money on safer bets, GAO has found.

Two years after the Pentagon set out to spend billions on 10 breakthrough research and engineering efforts, defense contractors instead are putting most of their money in less ambitious research projects.

The development gap between the military and its suppliers troubled investigators at the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, who determined in a report released last Thursday that the Defense Department isn’t keeping good watch over those private efforts and doesn’t know how much of it would fit into the military’s tech goals.

The Pentagon’s undersecretary for research and engineering in 2018 laid out several big idea research areas that would be most relevant to maintaining an edge on China or Russia. Many are in the very early stages of maturation; the biggest breakthroughs are expected in the second half of the coming decade.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/pentagon-defense-contractors-are-out-step-tech-innovation-gao-finds/168237/

July 27, 2020 By cs

Government contractors and financing a post-coronavirus ‘reboot’ of the economy

When the shutdown ends, contractors will be busy.

When the economy does begin to recover from our nationwide lockdown, one certainty is that it will not be as simple as “turning the lights back on.”

Companies may have a long road back to full strength as they go through the process of restoring their workforces, rebuilding supply chains and planning for growth in a new, unfamiliar economy.

One certainty, however, is that government contractors will be in high demand as agencies face a backlog of project work as well as new initiatives grown out of coronavirus recovery plans. Taking the right steps now will be essential to aligning these resources with expected need.

So why will government contractors face a surge in demand when COVID-19 restrictions lift? One reason is that many projects that were underway in the spring, particularly construction projects, will once again come back online after being placed on hold due to social distancing guidelines. Construction on roads, bridges and highways is expected to peak as state and federal agencies race to catch up on work planned and postponed for the spring and summer periods.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2020/07/government-contractors-and-financing-a-post-coronavirus-reboot-of-the-economy/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

July 22, 2020 By cs

We need $10 billion to pay contractors’ Coronavirus expenses, Pentagon tells Congress

It’s the first time a defense official has put a specific price tag on DoD’s COVID relief efforts.

The Pentagon needs Congress to approve “around $10 billion” to cover defense contractors’ coronavirus-related expenses, a top defense official said Monday.

Alan Shaffer, deputy defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, became the first Defense Department official to put a price tag on the relief effort.

“If there is another supplemental or stimulus package for realistic economic adjustment, we could be looking at somewhere around $10 billion in additional program costs,” Shaffer said during a taped appearance on the Government Matters television show that aired Monday afternoon.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/07/we-need-10b-pay-contractors-coronavirus-expenses-pentagon-tells-congress/166852/

July 21, 2020 By cs

DoD cautious of industrial base impact as coronavirus ramps back up

The Defense Department is seeing much of its industrial base reopen after shutdowns due to the coronavirus. However, the Pentagon isn’t celebrating yet.

As a second wave of COVID-19 hits the United States, DoD is reviewing policies to keep the supply chain moving and keeping an eye on the numbers.

Assistant Defense Secretary for Acquisition Kevin Fahey said only 34 of the approximately 1,000 defense-related companies that closed due to coronavirus are still shuttered. Employees are still getting infected though.

“We are seeing a lot of cases of COVID, a lot of cases in our defense industrial base, it’s pretty consistent with what you see in the news,” Fahey said Monday during a Professional Services Council webinar. “It tends to be the younger grouping of people for the most part. When more people get sick it spreads.”

He added that almost every industry partner has had confirmed COVID cases or quarantines.

Fahey said businesses and DoD have continued some operations because they’ve learned to operate under a new normal.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/07/dod-cautious-of-industrial-base-impact-as-coronavirus-ramps-back-up/

After a years long pilot, the Defense Department is establishing a permanent program that will let some trusted companies in on critical military information to help build needed systems.

The Pentagon wanted to fund ambitious research into future tech breakthroughs but contractors spend most of their money on safer bets, GAO has found.

When the shutdown ends, contractors will be busy.

It’s the first time a defense official has put a specific price tag on DoD’s COVID relief efforts.

The Defense Department is seeing much of its industrial base reopen after shutdowns due to the coronavirus. However, the Pentagon isn’t celebrating yet.

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