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The Defense Health Agency is conducting market research in advance of a planned RFP for a 10-year, $20 billion IT services and support contract. It's possible that vendors will be added to the contract without a formal source selection process.
Secretary Hagel met Thursday with Ukraine Minister of Defense Colonel General Valeriy Heletey to discuss the ongoing security situation in Ukraine. The two leaders spoke on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Wales. Hagel praised the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces in their current engagements in Eastern Ukraine and pledged continued U.S. support for their efforts. Minister Heletey thanked Secretary Hagel for that support, which includes millions of dollars of non-lethal material and assistance.
U.S. surveillance flights are buzzed by Chinese fighter jets armed to the teeth. The Air Force conducts more than 150 bombing raids on the ISIS army in Iraq. President Barack Obama sends 1,000 troops to protect the embassy in Baghdad. NATO leaders wonder if they'll have to mobilize to defend against Russian aggression. Everywhere you look, there's military activity or the potential for more of it. How does all this play out when the U.S. defense budget is flat or shrinking? And the military's technical leadership eroding? Todd Harrison, senior fellow for Defense Budget Studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with answers. Read the related story.
The Defense Health Agency is nearing its one year anniversary. Its officials say they're serious about finding the savings they promised through the reorganization of DoD's healthcare activities. One way they hope to save money is through more strategic sourcing. As Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports, that includes a new multiple award contract for IT services. Read Jared's related story.
The Navy has built an unmanned undersea vehicle that mimics the motions of the fish it resembles. The robotic fish is packed with acoustic sensors and cameras. Navy developers hope it will carry out a range full of missions like undersea mine detection or prolonged surveillance of ships, ports and submarines. Capt. Jim Loper is the concepts and innovation department head at the Navy Warfare Development Command in Norfolk, Virginia. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details on Robo Tuna.
The Defense Department is rolling out a series of initiatives that it says will respond to a problem its leaders have been worried about for years. The U.S. military still has the best technology in the world, but that advantage is shrinking fast. It's got DoD leaders alarmed. Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports. Read Jared's related article.
The U.S. and its allies have dominated the military technology landscape for decades, but the Defense Department now sees potential adversaries in its rearview mirror. The Pentagon is coming up with some coping strategies to maintain its technological advantage, including version 3 of Better Buying Power.
Standing in Estonia on Russia's doorstep, President Barack Obama says, "this is a moment of testing" for the Western alliance to stand up to the Kremlin. This came as the Pentagon announced that 200 U.S. soldiers would participate in an exercise in western Ukraine starting next week. It's symbolic, but the message is strong. It's the first time American ground troops have been in Ukraine since the crisis began.
Western allies have approved plans to position at least 4,000 troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe, increasing NATO's security commitments to jittery member states near the Russian border. This come just as an important NATO summit that begins Thursday. President Barack Obama will be there and will visit Estonia for meetings with Baltic leaders.
Both the Army and Air National Guard say they are making inroads toward gaining a foothold for their state-based forces in the Defense Department's growing mission sets in cyberspace. Both services say they are training more personnel and building the guard's credibility within the Pentagon when it comes to cyber missions.
The Veterans Affairs Department will release the Summary of Care and Blue Button applications for mobile devices this fall. The release is part of a burgeoning effort to create connections with patients outside of the traditional office visit.
On this week's edition of On DoD, we discuss strategic sourcing in the Navy, plus the current state of the financial management workforce in DoD.
Russia is ready for talks on resuming gas supplies to Ukraine, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday, warning of disruption to flows to Europe this winter if a row over pricing and debts was not resolved. The EU says gas must not be used as a diplomatic weapon. Novak said Moscow was ready to reduce its prices in an effort to secure a deal, but the proposed sum remained well above what Kiev has said it is willing to pay.
The Veterans Affairs Department has been making progress on its backlog of disability claims, but outdated technology keeps getting in the way. One bottleneck is the time it takes the VA to receive military medical records from the Defense Department. DoD installed a new system at the beginning of this year to solve that problem. But a look by the inspector general finds that things are as slow as ever. Federal News Radio's DOD Reporter Jared Serbu gives Emily Kopp the details on the Federal Drive. Read Jared's related article.