* Republicans plan to introduce legislation today that would give the Administration discretion in how to implement sequestration, whereas the original Budget Control Act cuts indiscriminately across budget accounts. The executive branch says they are already pretty efficient so cuts, no matter where they’re done, will affect muscle and bone, not just fat. Senator Coburn [R-OK], who is drafting the legislation, says there is plenty of waste and low-priority projects that can be cut without affecting core governmental functions.
* In the meantime Janet Napolitano at Homeland Security is promising delayed port entry for container ships and long lines at customs for foreign travelers, an impressive synergy with the Department of Transportation’s planned furloughing of air controllers.
* If you are somehow tuning in only now on the sequester: 15 things you need to know about it.
* The center-left Brookings Institute is lining up proposals to make the federal budget, including its military component, more efficient. Here is their paper [PDF], authored by Cindy Williams (not that Cindy Williams) on how to make defense affordable. In short: start from genuinely vital national security interests, which leads to more restricted defense policy goals (i.e. not “policing the world”), translating into a smaller force structure. See also a video of a panel last Friday where Williams and former defense and budget officials discussed the paper.
* DARPA will hold a Proposer’s Day on March 14 in Arlington, VA, to explain their goal with the Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) X-Plane research program.
* The US Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) will meet contractors interested in its Launch and Test Range System (LTRS), Satellite Control Network (AFSCN), and Space Training Acquisition Office (STAO) on March 15 at Vandenberg AFB, CA.
* The Financial Times looks into Tawazun, an industrial investment vehicle owned by Abu Dhabi that is developing homegrown defense manufacturing and support capabilities. The entity was not forthcoming with financial information and it remains to be seen whether they will succeed outside of the emirates. They will have to leverage the UAE’s big ticket imports to open up markets in return.
* SAIC’s post-spinoff national security, health and engineering business will be known as Leidos, announced the company Currently Known As SAIC (the IT side will keep that name after the split).