industry | The Contracting Education Academy

February 19, 2019 By AMK

DoD: Big companies move too slowly

The defense industry is never shy about urging the Pentagon to move faster when buying everything from equipment to weapons.

But this week, two top Pentagon acquisition officials turned the tables, saying that defense firms are moving too slowly themselves.

First came James Smith, the acquisition executive for U.S.Special Operations Command.

“As I get all sorts of great authorities from Congress and from [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] to move faster, we’re seeing some of our industry partners that are not moving as fast,” Smith said Wednesday at the National Defense Industrial Association SO/LIC conference. “If I’m going to move faster, I need you to move faster as well.”

He alluded to bureaucratic delays at larger firms.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2019/02/dod-big-companies-move-too-slowly-socoms-shopping-list-2020-budget-reveal-slips-march-and-more/154724/

January 24, 2019 By AMK

The fight for a massive Pentagon cloud contract is heating up

Top tech companies are launching a bidding war for a massive Pentagon cloud contract, even as their workforces are pressing them to refuse all military work.

In addition to the protests from employees, the bidding process for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract is bogged down by infighting between traditional defense contractors and the big tech companies that threaten to edge them out of a lucrative business opportunity—and the Department of Defense worries that all of the controversy distracts from its objective of obtaining the same basic cloud computing capabilities already available for consumers, which it says are necessary to better protect soldiers’ lives on the battlefield.

Although DoD says it’s too early to predict the ultimate value of the contract, JEDI is estimated to be worth about $10 billion. The contract will be awarded for a two-year period, with options to renew for five years and then three years after that. The price-tag makes the JEDI contract tempting for even the largest of tech firms. (Google, for instance, announced in February that its cloud business earned more than $1 billion per quarter, while Amazon Web Services nets over $5 billion each quarter.) The company that wins the contract will also have a foot in the door for future Pentagon work, as the DoD looks to rapidly expand its artificial intelligence capabilities.

Keep reading this article at: https://gizmodo.com/the-fight-for-a-massive-pentagon-cloud-contract-is-heat-1825517332/amp

December 18, 2018 By AMK

The ingredients powering DoD’s new nonlethal weapons

We may never know whether Cuba attacked American diplomats with microwave weapons — but we do know similar devices exist.

The U..S Department of Defense’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, along with a host of private arms companies, has spent decades testing everything from long-range wireless Taser bullets to sonic guns that can disable a car engine from 150 feet away.

The one requirement: These weapons must emit less than 10,000 joules, the amount of energy it takes to kill a person. Bombs incite wars, the thinking goes — but North Korea miiight forgive the “accidental discharge” of a directed-energy laser pulser (also, as it happens, in the works).

Keep reading this article at: https://www.wired.com/story/ingredients-powering-defense-department-new-nonlethal-weapons/

October 8, 2018 By AMK

Facing industry pressure, Pentagon backs off contract payment changes

Following a wave of criticism from the defense industry and members of Congress, the Pentagon on Monday backed off proposed changes to how companies receive cash flow on their contracts.

In a statement released at the unusual time of 7:19 PM, Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said the decision to withdraw the proposed acquisition changes stemmed from a lack of “coordination” inside the department.

“Recently, proposed amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) were prematurely released, absent full coordination,” Shanahan’s statement read. “As a result, the Department will rescind the proposed amendments. In coordination with industry, the Department will create a revised rule to implement section 831 of the FY2017 NDAA.”

“The department will continue to partner closely with Congress and industry to examine all reform opportunities, ensuring we provide the best value to taxpayers and critical capabilities to military personnel who defend this great Nation,” Shanahan said.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2018/10/02/facing-industry-pressure-pentagon-backs-off-contract-payment-changes/

October 4, 2017 By AMK

Industrial base war-gaming: Pentagon wants companies to find supply-chain weaknesses

The Pentagon is hoping industry will volunteer information on weak spots in their industrial supply chains, as part of a broader review and war-gaming effort to discover potential failure points for America’s defense industrial base.

John McGinn, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for defense, manufacturing and industrial base policy, laid out Wednesday how his team is hoping to prepare the department for an industrial base crisis in a time of conflict.

McGinn compared the new effort to the scenario planning that goes on throughout the Pentagon on a regular basis. But where that planning may focus on options for North Korea or a Russian invasion, this one will look at how various scenarios would impact the Pentagon’s ability to arm itself.

“We’re looking for industrial base risks, and those risks include foreign dependency, sole source, single source, fragile suppliers, suppliers that may not be looking to stay in the market,” McGinn said. He added that there are specific concerns about mining companies that DoD fails to “move the needle on” but which are vital to maintaining a technological edge.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/smr/equipping-the-warfighter/2017/09/28/industrial-base-wargaming-pentagon-wants-companies-to-find-supply-chain-weaknesses/

The defense industry is never shy about urging the Pentagon to move faster when buying everything from equipment to weapons.

Top tech companies are launching a bidding war for a massive Pentagon cloud contract, even as their workforces are pressing them to refuse all military work.

We may never know whether Cuba attacked American diplomats with microwave weapons — but we do know similar devices exist.

Following a wave of criticism from the defense industry and members of Congress, the Pentagon on Monday backed off proposed changes to how companies receive cash flow on their contracts.

The Pentagon is hoping industry will volunteer information on weak spots in their industrial supply chains, as part of a broader review and war-gaming effort to discover potential failure points for America’s defense industrial base.

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