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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: July 25, 2025
Army upgrades policy, technology to secure GenAI
(Breaking Defense) Artificial intelligence is a powerful but dangerous tool, the Army CIO told Breaking Defense, so a big part of his job now is making sure it’s safe to use. Widely available Large Language Models have already proven they can save hundreds of hours and millions of dollars for Army personnel struggling through complex paperwork, Leonel Garciga said. But, at the same time, he emphasized, the Army must adopt such off-the-shelf AI carefully by ensuring it protects military secrets, sensitive personal information, proprietary contractor data, and the public’s right to know. Read More
Space Force eyes ‘novel’ development tools for Golden Dome space-based interceptors
(Breaking Defense) The Defense Department is considering innovative methods — such as prize contests and industry cooperation — for kick starting development of space-based interceptors (SBIs) under the Trump administration’s ambitious Golden Dome initiative, according to a senior Space Force official. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, acting head of space acquisition for the Department of the Air Force, told the House Armed Services Committee today that “from initial discussions” with the Pentagon’s new Golden Dome czar, Gen. Michael Guetlein, and his team, it is clear that the primary goal for SBIs is speed. Read More
COBOL Programmers Needed: Another Alarm Raised about Legacy Agency IT Systems
(FEDweek) The GAO has sounded the latest of a series of alarms about security vulnerabilities in legacy agency IT systems, saying that the 11 most in need of modernization “are essential to government operations such as health care, critical infrastructure, tax processing, and national security.” “Eight of the 11 systems use outdated languages, four have unsupported hardware or software, and seven are operating with known cybersecurity vulnerabilities,” a report said. For example, both of the Treasury’s systems on the list run on Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL) and Assembly Language Code—”programming languages that have a dwindling number of people available with the skills needed to support them. Read More
Congress pushes right to repair provisions in 2026 defense bill
(Federal News Network) As the Army moves to incorporate right-to-repair provisions in all new and existing contracts, Congress is grappling with how to strike a balance between military readiness and protecting companies’ intellectual property. In an April 30 memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Army secretary to “identify and propose contract modifications for right-to-repair provisions where intellectual property constraints limit the Army’s ability to conduct maintenance and access the appropriate maintenance tools, software and technical data.” Read More
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