* Chris Chadwick, head of Boeing’s defense and space division, told Reuters that he expected at least two thirds of an expected $6B in cost cutting to come from the supply chain. Suppliers, it’s time to cower!
* BAE is divesting itself of its South African land systems business. BAE LSSA was the expertise base for the firm’s mine-resistant vehicles, but the USA’s MRAP program helped spread that competency within the firm. South Africa’s Denel is the proposed buyer in the ZAR 855M / $80 M sale.
US Naval Biz Dev
* The US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) will hold an industry day [FBO] on August 22 in Arlington, VA to discuss its contracting strategy for surface ship maintenance, repair and modernization. This follows another such briefing last February: see Brief and Q&A [PDFs].
* DARPA wants to hear [FBO] from companies that can help architect resilient networked maritime operations.
Advising DoD on Efficient Resource Deployment
* The Pentagon announced 8 new members joined its Defense Business Board (DBB), with a look at recruiting people from outside the defense sector. The list includes Emil Michael from Uber, a fast-growing car-sharing company from the Silicon Valley. DID pointed out last year that it is well worth watching for operators of vast arrays of capital goods.
Middle East
* Iraq’s president nominated Haider al-Abadi as prime minister but his predecessor Nouri al-Maliki does not seem to be willing to leave power without a fight: Institute for the Study of War | The Guardian.
* The UK will contribute [Sky News] some Tornados and C-130s to the current campaign in Iraq but they’re solely focused on providing humanitarian relief as Prime Minister Cameron ruled out military intervention a few days ago.
* Kenneth M. Pollack at the Brookings Institution tries to make sense of ISIS’ offensive against the Kurds.
* Israeli firm Rafael says [Haaretz] South Korea has expressed interest in its Iron Dome tactical air defense system.
* Today’s video shows cockpit footage from an F/A-18F Super Hornet launched off USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) during recent [WaPo] operations [MilTimes] against the Islamic State in Iraq:
