Army awards Anduril $20B counter-drone contract

The Army has awarded a mega contract to Anduril Industries that the U.S. military hopes will boost its ability to defeat drone threats. The Pentagon unveiled the $20 billion firm fixed-price deal Friday evening as part of its daily list of contract announcements. That announcement addressed the types of technologies involved, but was scant on details about the mission areas the capabilities would be applied toward. Under the agreement, Anduril will “consolidate current and future commercial solutions — including the proprietary, open-architecture, AI-enabled Lattice suite, integrated hardware, data, computer infrastructure, and technical support services — into a unified, mission-ready capability supporting the Army’s evolving operational and business needs. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 12, 2036,” according to the contract announcement. A separate news release from the Army-led Joint Interagency Task Force 401 — which is focused on strengthening the U.S. government’s drone defenses overseas and stateside — about the contract stated that the organization has “championed a groundbreaking enterprise-level agreement to provide a cutting-edge command-and-control solution through a strategic action.” Defense contractors are in the throes of becoming compliant with Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification standards. And now, in response to findings from the Government Accountability Office, a senior Pentagon official said the department plans to evaluate and define outside variables that could hinder the defense industry’s ability to comply with new standards set by the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 model. According to a study published by the GAO last Thursday, the Defense Department has done significant work to build a comprehensive strategy for implementing CMMC 2.0 cybersecurity standards. However, the report found that the department has yet to completely identify factors beyond its control that risk the program’s overall success. “CMMC planning documentation identifies processes that can help address external factors, including a program waiver process,” the report stated. “However, CMMC planning documentation does not systematically identify the external factors that could affect reaching each goal.” The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.