QUICK HITS
SBA size standard overhaul: 114,000 more businesses could qualify as small, bringing more runway and more competition.
[Event] FAS to hold a non-MAS program Sales Reporting Portal Module training session: Guidance to MAC and GWAC contract holders Oct 21.
Do you know the differences between a BAA and a CSO? Which agencies are using which vehicle?
DOL Section 503 changes take effect today: Remove Form CC-305 and stop conducting a utilization analysis of employees with disabilities.
DEFENSE & AEROSPACE
Half the drones in a recent Army combat exercise were designed to be expendable like ammo.
At the Army’s recent Saber Junction exercise in Germany, about 1,000 of the roughly 1,900 autonomous systems used were designed to be expendable, reflecting a shift toward treating low-cost drones more like ammunition than reusable aircraft. The Army is backing that concept through its Drone Dominance effort, which aims to field tens of thousands of cheap, rapidly replaceable drones so units can use them routinely for sensing, striking, and surviving in contested environments.
Cape Canaveral is building up its counter-drone defenses.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is getting new counter-drone defenses as DOD works to protect launch facilities from increasingly capable small UAS threats while supporting a sharp increase in launch activity. USSF officials say the new capabilities will be integrated with existing security systems, though staffing shortages in areas like firefighting, security forces, and civil engineering remain a separate challenge as launch operations expand.
CR puts the brakes on Space Force as 10% of programs go on hold.
The USSF requested $71.1B for FY27, including $19.1B in procurement. The CR keeps it at FY26 levels through December 11 and bars any new program starts, freezing roughly 10% of the service's programs. The service's new top buyer is already working to keep priorities moving, but December 11 will come fast.
ICYMI:
Triumphal arch to be a “top grade military complex” with supply storage.
USMC opens $45M IT support competition for WOSB.
Will airmen trust AI? The USAF’s future plans depend on it.
AAFES investigating “suspicious” messages sent to military customers through email and store’s official app.
Defense Contract Awards
Lockheed Martin won a sole-source $76M mod for TRIDENT II D5LE2 SSPALT.
Kato Engineering won a $49M Navy Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System Energy Storage Subsystem contract.
Telos booked a $14M USAF HAF A2/6 XIAM Software and IA deal.
Rune Technologies secured a $4M Army Logistics Modernization and Autonomous Resupply contract.
Follow the Defense Leaders
DISA taps a new Acting CTO + Director, Emerging Technology.
USSOCOM Strategic Initiatives lead joins TurbineOne.
Defense Job Openings
FUNNY
INTEL COMMUNITY
USSF to prototype new software to fuse commercial, military space tracking data.
The USSF plans to prototype new software this fall that will automatically fuse commercial and military space-tracking data, giving operators faster awareness of events such as satellite launches, debris clouds, and potential adversary activity. The goal is to improve space-control operations by prioritizing timeliness while keeping highly accurate military tracking data protected from lower-fidelity commercial inputs.
OSINT: Intelligence agents’ powerful tool for enhancing counterespionage.
Open-source intelligence is making counterespionage harder and more powerful at the same time: the huge digital footprints people leave online make undercover identities tougher to sustain, while giving analysts new ways to uncover adversaries through pattern-of-life and commercially available data. Intelligence agencies are responding with red teaming and AI-generated digital personas, while also using OSINT to track foreign R&D activity and protect sensitive U.S. technology.
ICYMI:
CISA issues guidance for deploying cyber decoys.
DOD’s UFO file drop includes audio from 1952 Project Blue Book briefing.
Cyber recovery deters what no kill switch can stop.
Empower AI won a $205M DCSA IT Support contract.
Nooks bagged a $147M DIU Classified Workspaces Expansion contract.
Nemean Solutions awarded USMC PM ICO Equipment Specialist Services deal.
ODNI is looking for a Supply Chains Program Director.
GET SEEN
Elevate your brand and expand your reach with GovBrew, the industry’s most reliable source for GovCon pros. Reach top figures and decision-makers across the government contracting industry. When you advertise with GovBrew, you can really make an impact. Get started here.
CIVILIAN
Inside Commerce efforts to break data siloes and improve integrity.
Commerce is working to break down federal data silos by combining administrative records from agencies including IRS, VA, HHS and SSA, while expanding data-sharing between the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve accuracy and reduce reliance on surveys. The department is also testing new approaches to strengthen 2030 Census data quality, including cooperation with USPS, while reexamining privacy and methodology practices it says can distort results.
Interior to use facial recognition AI for missing and murdered persons, human trafficking cases.
The DOI plans to award a firm-fixed-price contract to Clearview AI for facial-recognition tools that will help investigators identify and locate missing persons, crime victims, and suspects, including in missing and murdered Indigenous people, human trafficking, and child-exploitation cases. The planned purchase would provide six accounts to the BIA’s investigative units, while renewing longstanding privacy and civil-liberties concerns over federal use of Clearview’s massive facial-image database.
How should government measure the value of the property it owns?
A federal planning panel is using the DOE’s underused Forrestal Building as a test case for rethinking how the government values its real estate, weighing not just operating costs but also land value and redevelopment potential. The 1.5-million-square-foot complex costs about $41 million a year to operate while running at roughly 20%–28% utilization, prompting proposals to replace it with a mixed-use development of housing, commercial space, and public amenities.
ICYMI:
Anthropic extends $1 per user OneGov deal by a month.
CIO-SP4 post-mortem: GWAC was no longer relevant, needed.
This startup is building octopus-inspired tow trucks for space.
USPS fails to meet lowered service standards.
Civilian Contracts Awards
Follow Civilian Leaders
TSA named its Deputy CIO.
Xcelerate has a new Mission and Digital Solutions President.
Civilian Job Openings
SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿
AI nearly starts a war! An AI-generated intel report falsely claimed a Chinese ship was carrying nuclear components. US troops were in the air and preparing to board the vessel before analysts caught the error. SOURCE↗︎
Greenland deal reached. Trump secures permanent US security control while keeping the island in Denmark's hands. SOURCE↗︎
Meet the Tilcayo: Scientists identify a new wild cat species for the first time in over a century in Bolivia's Yungas forest. SOURCE↗︎
GROW WITH GOVBREW
Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help you:
1. Upgrade to GovBrew Insider for deeper intel: 70+ opportunities, 45+ recompetes, agency tracking, delivered every Friday. Try free for 30 days
2. Promote your brand to over 10,000+ GovCon decision-makers by sponsoring GovBrew. Apply here
SHARE GOVBREW
Share GovBrew with your GovCon colleagues, acquire free swag, and then tell them where you got it.
We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and bragging rights if you share a link. One link.
Your referral count: {{ rp_num_referrals }}
Or copy and paste your referral link to others:
{{ rp_refer_url }}
