Oracle Brings DOD Cloud Case to Federal Appeals Court

Oracle Corp. is appealing a federal claims court’s decision to deny the company’s complaints that the Pentagon is mishandling its search for a department-wide cloud platform. That brings the lawsuit to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In July, a Court of Federal Claims judge found that Oracle failed to meet certain criteria laid out in the Defense Department’s Joint Enterprise Department Infrastructure solicitation. Because the company couldn’t fulfill all of the requirements, the court ruled Oracle can’t claim the Pentagon is discriminating against it for other reasons. Read the full story by Rachel S. Cohen.

Lord: Turkish F-35 Parts to be Sourced in US; Pentagon on the Cyber Offensive

Parts for the F-35 fighter slated to be made by Turkey will instead be sourced from American vendors as the US removes Ankara from the aircraft program, Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord announced Aug. 26. Lord, in a periodic update on Pentagon acquisition, said the department is also “going on the offensive” against China’s theft of intellectual property, and new rules making cyber security compliance a determining factor in awarding contracts will go into effect very soon to affect contracts awarded early next year. Lord also addressed efforts to mitigate China’s dominance of the rare earth metals market. Read the full story by John A. Tirpak.

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Missile Defense Radar Upgrades Could Spur Improvements Across DOD

The Defense Innovation Unit is updating an Air Force missile-defense radar in an effort that promises to spur ripple effects for other programs like the F-22, according to a recent Pentagon report to Congress. DIU, the Defense Department’s main conduit to commercial technology companies in Silicon Valley, aims to improve the Cobra Dane radar’s ability to collect data on ballistic missile launches. Software upgrades could also add features to block electronic jamming. The group’s work on Cobra Dane, which is maintained by Raytheon and also tracks space debris up to 2,000 miles away, is one of seven DIU programs underway that could have department-wide impacts. Read the full story by Rachel S. Cohen.

US, African Air Chiefs Meet to Plan for Personnel Recovery, Interoperability

US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa on Aug. 26 kicked off a symposium bringing together air force leaders from 38 countries. The African Air Chiefs Symposium includes more than 40 delegates from across the continent, and runs until Aug. 29 in Nairobi. The meeting will help identify the top challenges facing each country and will discuss new personnel recovery policies and procedures, according to a USAFE release. Personnel recovery is a key issue facing US forces in Africa as they operate across the continent, US Africa Command leaders told Air Force Magazine during a recent visit to its headquarters. The topic was a main focus of last week’s African Partnership Flight exercise in Kenya as well. —Brian Everstine

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RADAR SWEEP

Russian-Chinese Air Patrol Was an Attempt to Divide Allies, Says Top US Air Force Official in Pacific

The head of the US Air Force in the Pacific has suggested that a recent Russian-Chinese air patrol may be an attempt to divide regional partners. The event resulted in warning shots fired by intercepting South Korean jets. Defense News

OPINION: Putin Built a Hypersonic Arsenal, While the Pentagon Slept

“Russia is almost certain to introduce almost all of its new hypersonic weapons well before they will appear in the American arsenal, and before the United States has developed defenses against them,” writes former Pentagon Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer Dov Zakheim, who now works as a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and serves as vice chairman of the board at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. “In doing so, it will lessen the effectiveness of America’s ballistic missile defenses, which are not geared to targeting—much less shooting down—hypersonic systems, especially cruise missiles such as the Burevestnik.” The Hill

Air Force Seeks New Candidates to Manage the Space Enterprise Consortium

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center is looking to make changes in the management of its fast growing Space Enterprise Consortium. In a Request for Information posted Aug. 20, SMC announced it is “performing market research to help inform the acquisition strategy to recompete the Space Enterprise Consortium Other Transaction Agreement.” Space News

Transporting U-2 Chase Cars over the Atlantic Presents Unique Challenges for McGuire Squadron

The Air Force is sending two Dodge muscle cars across the Atlantic Ocean so they can chase U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft. But loading the cars and a transportation truck onto another aircraft for the journey is posing some unusual hurdles for the 305th Aerial Port Squadron at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., who were tasked with transporting the vehicles to RAF Mildenhall in the UK. Air Force Times

Marines Considering Flying US F-35Bs Off of Japan’s Largest Warships

Officials in Tokyo have requested Marines deploy F-35B fighters aboard Japan’s largest warships, a US defense official confirmed to USNI News on Aug. 23. USNI News

Families of Afghanistan Fallen Fear Their Memorials Will Be Left Behind

As the Trump administration pushes for ways to downsize in Afghanistan—possibly even withdrawing all 14,000 troops stationed there—the parents, widows and friends of the NATC-A 9 want their memorials, including plaques and painted murals, brought back home. Military.com

North Korea Tests New “Super-Large” Rocket Launcher

North Korea said Aug. 25 that leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a “newly developed super-large multiple rocket launcher,” another demonstration of the North’s expanding weapons arsenal apparently aimed at increasing its leverage ahead of a possible resumption of nuclear talks with the US. Associated Press

Defense One Radio Ep. 54: Defense Intelligence Agency’s Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley

Defense One Tech Editor Patrick Tucker sat down with DIA Director Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley on Aug. 19 in Tampa, Fla. The general answered 10 questions about the Pentagon’s evolving tech needs in Afghanistan, cloud computing across the services, cyber defense, machine learning, China, North Korea, and quite a bit more. Defense One

One More Thing

Hackers Could Have Breached US Bioterrorism Defenses for Years, Records Show.

The Department of Homeland Security stored sensitive data from the nation’s bioterrorism defense program on an insecure website where it was vulnerable to attacks by hackers for over a decade, according to government documents reviewed by The Times. The Los Angeles Times via Military.com