GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (7/8–12)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers legislation to ban counterfeit electronics, Lockheed's F-35s, AI-driven intelligence for military, and SOCOM as a model for CYBERCOM.

Congress

FedScoop – Bipartisan Senate bill aims to ban U.S. agency purchases of counterfeit electronics 

• "Federal agencies would be prohibited from using certain products if they were purchased from an entity other than the original manufacturer or an authorized reseller under a new bipartisan Senate bill.T he Securing America’s Federal Equipment (SAFE) in Supply Chains Act was introduced Thursday by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Gary Peters, D-Mich., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee."

Defense

DefenseNews – Pentagon to accept deliveries of Lockheed F-35s after yearlong pause

• "The head of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has approved a plan to accept the newest jets with a partial version of its latest software, paving the way for deliveries to resume after a year-long pause."

SpaceNews – U.S. military to award $3 billion contract for AI-driven intelligence

• "The U.S. military is poised to award an estimated $3 billion multi-year contract for commercial data and analytics services to monitor potential threats across the Indo-Pacific region, a focal point of global geopolitics and a priority theater for the Department of Defense. The program, known as Long-Range Enterprise Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Activity (LEIA), seeks to procure a wide spectrum of commercial data and advanced AI-driven analytics, integrating information from ground, aerial, and space-based platforms."

FedNewsNet – Sulmeyer looks to extend SOCOM model for CYBERCOM as lawmakers resurface cyber force idea

• "If confirmed as the first-ever assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, Michael Sulmeyer said he would consider a “range of options” to address persistent cyber mission force readiness challenges, including applying some aspects of the U.S. Special Operations Command model to U.S. Cyber Command."

. . .

#govcon