* The Pentagon published the Contracting Officer’s Representative Handbook (DoD COR HDBK – PDF) to provide guidance on contract surveillance, ethics, the acquisition process, as well as contract structure, administration, and monitoring. It intends to provide a comprehensive roundup of material found in FAR, DFARS, and other relevant regulation.
* The GAO purchased military-grade electronic parts on the internet through a fictitious company to assess the availability of counterfeit parts from China. They found parts that had been remarked, did not meet milspec, showed more recent dates than the last legit date of production for that part, and other signs of counterfeiting.
* Next Thursday the US Senate Armed Services Committee will consider the nominations of Frank Kendall as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; Katharina G. McFarland to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition; and Heidi Shyu to be Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology. 2 other undersecretaries and one assistant secretary are also up for nomination during the same hearing.
* This week Congressional FY13 budget hearings are starting to switch in focus from the big picture to more detailed subcommittee panels such as rotorcraft modernization or naval vessel acquisition.
* The European Commission has pushed the deadline of its antitrust review of United Technologies’ pending acquisition of Goodrich to August 9.
* Here’s a short presentation [PDF] at a recent NDIA event on the proper role of the testing community in defense system requirements that makes a salient point: Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) should reflect mission accomplishment, not arbitrary values. This mirrors debates in education circles about “teaching to the test.”
* The Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center and Mack Defense signed an agreement that will provide the contractor access the only remaining US Army foundry. This takes the form of public-private partnerships (PPP) whose quantity is no longer restricted since this fiscal year’s defense bill through provisions pushed by congressmen Bobby Schilling [R-IL-17] and Dave Loebsack [D-IA-02].
* The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)’s report on military capabilities in the Arctic states that talks of an arms race in the region are overblown.
* The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) posted a rather optimistic short memo [PDF] on Iran’s defense industrial policy.