Acquisition
Photo by Peter Conrad via Unsplash
It will take more than a new policy to get certified SBOMs
Jason Miller, Federal News Network
A new effort from Department of Defense PTDO CIO Katie Arrington -- which we covered in last week's newsletter -- to speed up software procurement requires contractors to provide a certified Software Bill of Materials (SBOM). While intended to increase visibility and enhance security, the requirement for independent third-party certification presents significant challenges due to a lack of established standards and certifying bodies.
- Visibility Power: Despite challenges, SBOMs are valuable for creating a software inventory, allowing the government to react to major vulnerabilities, which currently cannot be fully located across federal networks.
Panama City contracting officer impacts littoral, mine systems warfighting readiness
Jeremy Roman, NSWC PCD Public Affairs
NPS Contract Management alumna Anna Belle Tiller was recently awarded the Navy Civilian Service Achievement Medal. A contracting officer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD), Tiller has produced nearly $80 million in cost savings via her contract management skills. Her work helps the Navy achieve dominance in littoral warfare, particularly in subsea and seabed missions.
Inside GSA’s AI strategy: Using the tech while learning how to buy it
Nick Wakeman, NextGov
The General Services Administration (GSA) is adopting a two-pronged approach to artificial intelligence, simultaneously using the technology internally while developing frameworks for government-wide acquisition of AI solutions for other agencies.
- Acquisition Models: Two acquisition models are emerging for AI: subscription-based services (like cloud computing) and token-based models for on-demand access.
- Pricing Challenge: A key difficulty for contracting officers is identifying price reasonableness for AI solutions, as the market is still developing.
Textron’s Shadow RQ-7B V2 Block III (Courtesy of Textron)
DIU shakes up Blue UAS process, enlisting third-party vendors for compliance checks
Carley Welch, Breaking Defense
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is implementing a significant change to its Blue UAS program, aiming to accelerate the deployment of commercial drones by allowing manufacturers to seek compliance verification through independent third-party vendors rather than relying solely on DIU's internal process.
The new intellectual property guidebook from DoD is important but likely not your next beach read
Terry Gerton, Federal News Network
A new, long-awaited Intellectual Property Guidebook from the DOD aims to equip acquisition professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate complex IP challenges throughout the acquisition lifecycle.
- Balanced Strategy: A new "balanced approach" recognizes the advantages of buying commercial products while managing DOD's unique need for IP rights that enable long program life cycles, maintenance, sustainment, upgrades, and re-procurement.
Innovation
Photo by Immo Wegmann via Unsplash
The Defense Innovation Unit takes on a really tough problem
Terry Gerton, Federal News Network
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is piloting a new system using artificial intelligence to modernize its internal budget and program management processes, aiming to overcome challenges with disparate systems and manual data entry to improve efficiency, accuracy, and transparency.
- Comprehensive Insight: "It’s finding these budgets, being able to obligate against them and create awards and invoices. And then to hit milestones, track against those, and execute against a project. Today, that [capability is] living across all these manual, disparate systems, living in the incredible people at DIU and their DoD partners’ minds."
- Connected Processes: The goal is to create a "connected digital thread" that links typically distinct budget planning and program management processes across their lifecycle.
- Scaling Potential: DIU intends for this pilot project to prove a successful model that can be adopted and scaled across the entire DoD, potentially informing changes in policy and operations related to PPBE.
Congress and Government
The U.S. Capitol building at dusk as vehicles travel on Pennsylvania Avenue on November 05, 2023 in Washington DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to promote competition in DOD cloud and AI procurement
Jon Harper, DefenseScoop
A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers has introduced the Protecting AI and Cloud Competition in Defense Act of 2025, a bill aimed at boosting competition in Defense Department AI and cloud contracts and protecting government data.
- Congressional Oversight: If enacted, the bill would require annual reports to congressional defense committees, assessing competition, innovation, barriers to entry, and concentrations of market power in the AI space.
CSIS Congressional Panel Calls for Changes in Defense Acquisition
John Grady, USNI News
During a panel discussion, members of Congress highlighted the need to modernize the Pentagon's acquisition process, criticizing the current system as outdated and too slow compared to potential adversaries.
- Budget Hurdles: Reliance on continuing resolutions was identified as detrimental to an investment strategy. Sen. Mark Kelly argued that reconciliation was not a way to "juice" DOD spending and advocated for a "regular order" to align spending with current and future needs.
- Early Testing: Funding for testing new systems early in the process was stressed as vital, noting that testing is currently "typically starved of resources and now is facing cuts".
- Rapid Iteration: The panel highlighted the need to learn from adversaries and allies who can "iterate on a very rapid cycle, days, weeks [not years like the United States]".
Research
Defense Contract Audit Agency: Formal Assessment Needed to Determine Future Use of Independent Public Accountants
Government Accountability Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the Defense Contract Audit Agency's (DCAA) use of independent public accountants (IPAs) to help with contract audits, finding that while their use has freed up DCAA auditors for higher-risk tasks, DCAA lacks a formal plan for their future use and hasn't communicated one to Congress.
Events
ai+ expo
2-4 June 2025
Washington DC
Spring 2025 Naval AI Summit
10-14 June 2025
Virtual
AI Acquisition Bootcamp
11 June 2025
Virtual
DLA Supply Chain Alliance Conference & Exhibition
11-12 June 2025
Richmond, VA
Training & Simulation Industry Symposium (TSIS) 2025
17-18 June 2025
Orlando, FL
MTO Spark Tank
24-25 July 2025
Aurora, CO
MODSIM World 2025
18-20 August 2025
Norfolk, VA
2025 Emerging Technologies for Defense
27-29 August 2025
Washington, DC
I/ITSEC 2025: Optimizing Training: Ensuring Operational Dominance
1-4 December 2025
Orlando, FL
One more thing...
A picture of the USS Saginaw, the first of a long line of ships built at the Mare Island Navy Yard in the San Francisco area. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
Navy subs and nuclear secrets: The riveting history of California’s Mare Island
John Metcalfe, Stars and Stripes
Mare Island, a historic U.S. Navy shipbuilding and maintenance facility near San Francisco, played a vital and often secret role in national defense from the Civil War until its decommissioning in the 1990s. Despite its operational closure, it remains a place of historical significance and has transitioned into a mixed-use site combining historical landmarks with modern commercial and recreational activities.
- Naval Powerhouse: From the Civil War through the 1990s, Mare Island was a major shipbuilding and overhaul facility. It supported the Navy through both world wars, building over 500 vessels including numerous landing crafts during World War II and becoming one of only two public shipyards to build nuclear submarines during the Cold War.
- Atomic Secrets: Mare Island played a role in the atomic age, reportedly secretly receiving parts for the nuclear bomb that was eventually dropped on Japan, leading to the end of World War II.
- Cold War Espionage: Hosted the highly classified "Ivy Bells" mission, which involved using submarines and saturation divers to tap into Soviet undersea telephone lines in the Sea of Okhotsk. The tapes were reportedly swapped at Mare Island before analysis in D.C., with the program credited for helping end the Cold War.
- Global Tree Collection: The island hosts a remarkably biodiverse collection of trees from around the world. This diversity originated from Commodore James Alden, who, in the late 1800s, who asked ship captains to collect and send back saplings from their travels.
- Historic Landmarks: Visitors can explore the oldest standing Navy chapel in the U.S., St. Peter's Chapel, known for its Tiffany stained-glass windows and plaques made from salvaged ship metal.
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