Pentagon

GAO Report on Information Threats to National Security

The following is the recently released Government Accountability Office report, Information Environment: Opportunities and Threats to DOD’s National Security Mission.

From the report

What GAO Found

Given the ubiquitous nature of the information environment, both DOD and adversaries can conduct operations and activities in the information environment from anywhere in the world. Additionally, with DOD capabilities dependent on IT and the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), its ability to conduct...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/23/gao-report-on-information-threats-to-national-security

Latest Military Sexual Assault Report Shows ‘Tragic’ Rise in Cases, Pentagon Officials Say

Sailors underway on May 24, 2022. US Navy Photo

THE PENTAGON — One in 10 female sailors experienced unwanted sexual contact in Fiscal Year 2021, one of the worst rates among the service branches, according to the Department of Defense’s annual Sexual Assault and Prevention Report released on Thursday.

That’s an increase from 7.5 percent of female sailors in FY 2018, according to slides from a DoD briefing Thursday afternoon. FY 2021 saw 2.1 percent of male sailors experiencing unwanted sexual...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/01/latest-military-sexual-assault-report-shows-tragic-rise-in-cases-pentagon-officials-say

GAO’s Open High Priority Recommendations for the Pentagon

The following is the Aug. 22, 2022 open letter from the Government Accountability Office to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Defense.

From the report

We ask for your continued attention to the remaining 66 open priority recommendations identified in the 2021 letter. We are also adding 18 new recommendations related to Navy readiness, cybersecurity and the information environment, defense management, federal contracting, and financial management. This...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/23/gaos-open-high-priority-recommendations-for-the-pentagon

Senate Questions How Pentagon Uses ‘Controlled Unclassified Information’ Label

NASA Photo

The Senate is raising questions about how the Pentagon uses a label for unclassified information that some officials say makes it more difficult to access public information.

In its version of the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate Armed Services Committee wants to better define how the Defense Department can use the controlled unclassified information (CUI) designation.

CUI was intended to speed the disclosure of information to other agencies and the...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/08/senate-questions-how-pentagon-uses-controlled-unclassified-information-label

GAO’s 2022 Weapons Systems Annual Assessment

The following is the June 8, 2022, Government Accountability Office report Weapon Systems Annual Assessment: Challenges to Fielding Capabilities Faster Persist.

From the report

What GAO Found

For over 20 years, GAO has assessed the Department of Defense’s (DOD)
weapon programs and noted significant changes in its acquisition policies and
practices. GAO’s first assessment in 2003 highlighted challenges, such as
committing billions of taxpayer dollars before obtaining key information, including
relia...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/09/gaos-2022-weapons-systems-annual-assessment

Great Wall of Naval Targets Discovered in Chinese Desert

H I Sutton Illustration for USNI News Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies Used with Permission

China has been honing its ship-killing skills for potential future conflicts on new targets in a remote desert, according to new satellite photos reviewed by USNI News. New analysis shows the People’s Liberation Army is testing the ability to hit ships in port with long-range ballistic missiles.

Since USNI News reported China has been building aircraft carrier targets in the Takmalakan Desert,...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/11/great-wall-of-naval-targets-discovered-in-chinese-desert

FY 23 Budget: Navy Wants to Shed 24 Ships for $3.6B in Savings Over Next Five Years

Five cruisers that could be targets for decommissioning this year.

THE PENTAGON — The Navy wants to decommission 24 ships in the upcoming fiscal year to save $3.6 billion over the next five years, the service announced today.

As part of its Fiscal Year 2023 budget request, the Navy plans to decommission 9 Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships, five Ticonderoga-class cruisers, two Los Angeles-class submarines, four Landing Dock Ships, two oilers and two Expeditionary Transfer Docks.

Explaining the...

https://news.usni.org/2022/03/28/fy-23-budget-navy-wants-to-shed-24-ships-for-3-6b-in-savings-over-next-five-years

Last Minute FY 22 $728.5B Defense Bill Funds 13 Navy Ships, 12 F/A-18s; Saves 3 LCS From Decommissioning

USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) pier-side at Naval Station San Diego, Calif., on Feb. 15, 2022. USNI News Photo

House appropriators signed out an early morning, all-in-one federal funding bill that pluses up the overall budget Pentagon budget and the Navy shipbuilding account over the initial fiscal year 2022 request.

The omnibus appropriations bill, four months past the start of Fiscal Year 2022, sets a Department of Defense topline at $728.5 billion over the Biden administrations FY 2022 initial $715...

https://news.usni.org/2022/03/09/last-minute-fy-22-728-5b-defense-bill-funds-13-navy-ships-12-f-a-18s-saves-3-lcs-from-decommissioning

National Airlines delivers US-made Javelin missiles to Ukraine

An Air Force service member loads a pallet in the hull of a big cargo airliner.

All-cargo carrier National Airlines is delivering anti-tank Javelin missiles, launchers and other U.S. weapons to Ukraine to help the country withstand a possible invasion by Russia, according to government photos and social media posts.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Twitter that 300 Javelin missiles arrived Tuesday in the Ukrainian capital, the third shipment of $200 million in security assistance to the Eastern European nation in response to a buildup of 100,000 Russian troops on the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/national-airlines-delivers-us-made-javelin-missiles-to-ukraine

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