US DoD Phases In New Cyber Regulation for Contractors
Contractors Face New Regulatory Obligations
- Effective since last Monday, a Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) amendment applies to all new contracts that use or generate technical information and spells out new responsibilies for contractors tasked with “safeguarding unclassified controlled technical information.” Among other things, contractors now have to report cyber breaches to the government.
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US Naval Shipbuilding, Such As It Is
- The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the US Navy’s involvement in shipbuilding quality, following shoddy work on early San Antonio class ships. GAO notes improvements, and urges the Navy to look more closely at commercial best practices. But for that they’d have to look abroad, as a 10-year old report [PDF] from the National Defense University already dryly noted that “the US shipbuilding industry is not competitive in the global commercial market”. Among GAO recommendations the Navy is agreeing with, the threat of payment withholds to steer contractors into delivering higher-quality products. GAO should suggest the purchase of an entire class of ships from South Korea, just for laughs.
Competition for Long Range Strike Bomber
- Northrop Grumman had not initially commented when Boeing and Lockheed Martin announced their partnership for the US Air Force’s future bomber, but CFO James Palmer confirmed the company would compete during a Goldman Sachs conference last week, according to Washington Business Journal.
German Armament Sales Down, Still Under Fire
Germany’s weapons sales decreased by 13% to 4.7 billion euros (about $6.4B) in 2012, with Saudi Arabia by far topping the list of export destinations. Deutsche Welle | Government report [PDF in German].
Aerostats, Surveillance Aircraft for Export
- The UAE’s ADASI is preparing to launch a range of small aerostats, as an offering to customers in the SAMENA (South Asia – Middle East – North Africa) region.
- Boeing knows that its 737-based P-8 Poseidon sea control jet may be a bit too much plane for some customers. They’ve confirmed a long-standing rumor by teaming up with Canada’s Bombardier to offer a surveillance-only Challenger 605 MSA with similar endurance and range, but lower purchase and operating costs.
Expensive Fruit
- FreshPoint Inc. and its subsidiary Sysco settled for $4.2M with the US Department of Justice, over allegations that they had overcharged DoD for fresh produce from 2007 to 2009. A former Freshpoint employee gets almost $800K for his whistleblowing efforts.
Helping the Philippines
- US Marine Lt Gen John Wissler, in charge of the III Marine Expeditionary Force since last July, explains in the video below Joint Task Force 505‘s ongoing typhoon relief efforts:
