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Technology

♠️Increment 2: the CCA order everyone is watching is the small one

Sep 1, 2026

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6 min read

♠️Increment 2: the CCA order everyone is watching is the small one

150 aircraft are under contract. The Air Force wants up to 2,000. Ten months to get into the second round.

Justin Nerdrum

Funding

♠️Denied List: What the Senate cut from the Pentagon's stopgap wish list

Aug 27, 2026

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5 min read

♠️Denied List: What the Senate cut from the Pentagon's stopgap wish list

Plus the 20 hulls that did get money, and our shutdown call for October 1.

Justin Nerdrum

Policy

♠️Empty Chair: the fixed-price rule is due Friday, and its author is leaving

Aug 25, 2026

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5 min read

♠️Empty Chair: the fixed-price rule is due Friday, and its author is leaving

Plus we grade a miss, and DISA's JWCC successor finally has a shape.

Justin Nerdrum

Funding

Austal asked the Navy for relief. The answer was no.

Aug 13, 2026

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6 min read

Austal asked the Navy for relief. The answer was no.

A shipbuilder wrote off A$175M after the government declined to accelerate contract relief. Three days later, a Korean buyer offered up to $1.2B for the yard. Both dockets close tomorrow at noon.

Justin Nerdrum

Policy

♠️The List: Your cost-plus contract may already be on one

Aug 11, 2026

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7 min read

♠️The List: Your cost-plus contract may already be on one

Agency heads owed a review of their ten largest non-fixed-price contracts by July 29. The results went to OMB and stopped there. Two dockets close Friday.

Justin Nerdrum

Policy

Paper Trail: the White House wants your supply chain mapped

Jul 23, 2026

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5 min read

Paper Trail: the White House wants your supply chain mapped

♠️ A new executive order starts rulemaking that would make contractors chart their critical suppliers. Plus the reconciliation bill behind the drone money is shrinking.

Justin Nerdrum

Policy

Mass Production: missiles by the family, drones by the half-billion

Jul 21, 2026

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4 min read

Mass Production: missiles by the family, drones by the half-billion

♠️ The Pentagon signed three companies to build cheap cruise missiles at volume. Read it beside last week's drone buys, and the pattern looks like policy.

Justin Nerdrum

Policy

Red Tape: CMMC Phase II is suspended. Your 800-171 duties are not.

Jul 16, 2026

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5 min read

Red Tape: CMMC Phase II is suspended. Your 800-171 duties are not.

The certification your company budgeted for is shelved. The standard behind it remains enforceable, and four deadlines fall next week.

Justin Nerdrum

Funding

Fixed Terms: cost-plus becomes the exception tomorrow

Jul 14, 2026

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5 min read

Fixed Terms: cost-plus becomes the exception tomorrow

Non-fixed-price work needs a justification starting July 15, even on some existing contracts.

Justin Nerdrum

Archive

♠️Increment 2: the CCA order everyone is watching is the small one

♠️Denied List: What the Senate cut from the Pentagon's stopgap wish list

♠️Empty Chair: the fixed-price rule is due Friday, and its author is leaving

Austal asked the Navy for relief. The answer was no.

♠️The List: Your cost-plus contract may already be on one

Paper Trail: the White House wants your supply chain mapped

Mass Production: missiles by the family, drones by the half-billion

Red Tape: CMMC Phase II is suspended. Your 800-171 duties are not.

Fixed Terms: cost-plus becomes the exception tomorrow

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