Compromised Networks, Protecting Maritime for National Security and more news

US GAO Release Report and Recommendations on Foreign Military Sales

A new report, Foreign Military Sales: DOD Should Strengthen Oversight of Its Growing Transportation Account Balances, was recently released by the US Government Accountability Office (US GAO). US foreign partners buy billions of dollars of defense items and services annually through the US Foreign Military Sales program. To transport the items they buy, buyers pay fees that should roughly equal what the US government pays to transport the goods. However, the transportation fee account balances have grown by over 1300%. Because there was no guidance on how to determine whether account balances were too high or too low, the fees weren’t adjusted appropriately. The US GAO makes 10 recommendations to DOD to improve how it sets fees and manages the transportation accounts, including setting target ranges for account balances. READ MORE

Story Follow-Up
Last week, the NDTAGram reported on USTRANSCOM’s “Turbo Activation,” one the largest surges of its aging sealift ships in decades (you can read that article from Defense News HERE).  In case anyone was curious, here is a LIST OF EVERY SHIP activated for this massive endeavor and what they do.

Government & Military News

Assume Networks Are Compromised, DOD Official Urges
(Department of Defense [DOD]) No matter how secure a computer network or the environment it’s used in may seem to be, users should just assume it’s compromised, the deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering said. READ MORE

Air Mobility Command Exercise Tests Ability to Operate in Degraded Combat Environments
(Air Force Times) Operating in austere conditions, beyond well-defended bases, is likely in the event of a conflict with a near-peer adversary like Russia or China, according to Air Force leaders. As a result, the service has increasingly focused on its ability to operate in degraded combat environments the past several years. READ MORE

Analysis: After UN Visit, Iran Faces Diminishing Choices
(Associated Press) Iran has long prided itself on its forceful defiance of the United States and Israel. But the limits of Iran’s ability to go it alone were on display at the United Nations this week as it engaged in a flurry of diplomatic outreach amid increasingly crippling isolation by US sanctions that are eating into its economy and its ability to sell its oil. READ MORE

Esper Visits Laid-Up Submarine as the Pentagon Waits on a 2020 Budget
(Military Times) Days before the end of the fiscal year, and without a foreseeable budget deal, Defense Secretary Mark Esper took a tour of the fast attack submarine Boise on Wednesday, which has in recent years become famous for all the wrong reasons. READ MORE

Is the Key to Expanding DOD’s Industrial Base in Flying Cars?
(Federal News Network) The Air Force is encouraging its acquisition professionals to think about where the defense market has value to companies and to reach out to them for ways both the service and the businesses can benefit. Their first collaboration will be with a classic futuristic idea: flying cars. READ MORE

Industry News

Maritime Industry Needs Protection for National Security
(Everett Herald) If we don’t act, someday soon we might find ourselves ordering our next aircraft carrier from Beijing. READ MORE

Navigating the Logistics of Recovery After Hurricane Dorian
(Supply Chain Dive) While agencies and logistics firms are improving their ability to get supplies to ports of entry in disaster zones, the last mile is often where visibility breaks down. READ MORE

Rail and Trucks Go Head to Head as Teething Troubles with PSR Implementation Abate
(The Motley Fool) Trucks are hearing the distant rumblings of an approaching freight train that they would rather see derailed, as precision scheduled railroading (PSR) may finally be paying off for railroads. READ MORE

Facial Recognition’s Arrival at DFW Airport Ushers in the Biometric Era
(The Dallas Morning News) The kind of face-scanning technology seen in science fiction films is now in use at DFW International Airport and other airports across the country, with a goal of increasing security and saving time for travelers. READ MORE

Self-Driving Trucks: A Reality Check
(Transport Topics) The vision of self-driving trucks hauling cargo on highways across the country already has taken root in the public imagination, but this topic elicits emotions ranging from excitement to trepidation, as well as stunningly divergent views on when, if ever, that vision will become a reality. READ MORE
 

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