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The agenda for this years Reagan National Defense Forum is fixed firmly on the future, even as Congress struggles to pass a budget for the fiscal year that began more than two months ago. Meanwhile, its organizers have released their annual national security-themed public-opinion survey.

Perhaps its most eye-popping finding: 28% of Americans surveyed said that Russia is a U.S. ally. Belief in that falsehood is up from 19% last year. Still, 71% called Russia a threat to America, and 25% called it the greatest threat. But more people 60% of those surveyed, called China the largestthreat.

Otherhighlights:

Forum attendees are slated toinclude:

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Ill be moderating Saturdays 1:40 p.m. panel: Strengthening Nuclear Deterrence: Modernizing the Triad and Sustaining Arms Control in a Post-INF World. Panelists include Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, National Nuclear Security Administration administrator, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio. Watch it live, here.

Youve reached the Defense One Global Business Brief by Marcus Weisgerber. Im heading to Simi Valley this weekend for the Reagan National Defense Forum, so shoot me a message if you want to link up. As always, send along your tips and feedback to mweisgerber@defenseone.com or @MarcusReports. Check out the Global Business Brief archive here, and tell your friends to subscribe!

Even large companies arent doing as well as they think they are, the assistant acquisition chief saidMonday.

Getting internet security right is key to the alliances veryfuture.

The alliance should up its members spending goals and count much-needed resiliency investment toward thetotal.

S-400 missile interceptors might just be the beginning of arms deals between Moscow and Ankara, according to a Reuters report, citing the Russian RIA state-run news organization. Rosoboronexports Alexander Mikheev told RIA news agency Moscow and Ankara were actively discussing Ankara taking up an option in the original contract for it to receive more S-400 systems, with talks focused on financial questions, Reuters reports. We hope that in the first half of 2020 we will sign the contract documents, RIA cited Mikheev as saying. But I want to stress that military technical cooperation with Turkey is not limited to the supply of the S-400s. We have big plansahead.

Over the past five years, Navy warships have spent some 33,700 more days in maintenance than expected, according to the Government Accountability Office. Do the math, and thats more than 92 years in maintenance delays. The Navy was unable to complete scheduled ship maintenance on time for about 75 percent of the maintenance periods conducted during fiscal years 2014 through 2019, with more than half of the delays in fiscal year 2019 exceeding 90 days, GAOs Diana Maurer wrote in prepared testimony for the Senate Armed Services seapower and readiness subcommittees. When maintenance is not completed on time, fewer ships are available for training or operations, which can hinder readiness. The Navys plan to improve those metrics will take 20 years and $21 billion, according to a new GAO report. Shortening maintenance was a top priority for former Deputy Defense Secretary PatrickShanahan.

The Navy on Monday signed a $22.2 billion deal with General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls for nine Virginia-class submarines. The deal has an option for a tenth sub, which could increase the total value to $22.4billion.

Caroline Kennedy will christen a new aircraft carrier named for her father this Saturday at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. As a 9-year-old in 1967, she helped her mother and brother christen the first USS John F. Kennedy.

The Air Force is planning an industry day to talk about the plane that will replace the E-4B National Airborne Operations Center. The new plane has been dubbed the Survivable Airborne Operations Center, or SAOC (presumably pronounced say-ock). The plane will be a new, cost-effective, commercial derivative aircraft aka something that already exists, like a new Boeing 747-8, which, by the way, appears to be nearing the end of its production run. The four 1970s-era E-4Bs need so much additional maintenance that theyre no longer flying the defense secretary on overseastrips.

The Pentagon is continuing its investment in hypersonic weapons, awarding Lockheed Martin a $989 million deal for the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon. The boost-glide weapon is undergoing tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Air Force Magazine reports.

The info will inform the creation and issuance of formal Requests for Prototype Proposals related to testing and experimentation projects focusing on 5G Dynamic Spectrum Sharing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Smart Warehouse and Asset Management at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia, the Pentagon said in a Nov. 29 statement. The military intends to conduct 5G tech trials at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and Naval Base San Diego, California. DoD, in coordination with industry, will develop and mature spectrum access technologies that enable improved cognizance of spectrum activity, protection of U.S. activity in the electromagnetic spectrum domain and provide the ability to relocate and/or share spectrum anytime and anywhere access is denied, the Pentagon said in a Nov. 29statement.

Amazon is famously contesting the Pentagons choice of Microsoft for its $10 billion JEDI cloud computing contract, but its not the only Jeff Bezos-owned company with a contracting beef. After rocket maker Blue Origin challenged the Air Forces method for evaluating prospective launch providers, GAO concurred,saying:

In summary, we find that the [Air Forces request for proposals] anticipated when combined best-value methodology fails to provide offerors with an intelligible and common basis for competition. We recommend that the Air Force amend the solicitation consistent with our decision and the requirements of applicable procurement law and regulation. We also recommend that the agency reimburse the protester its respective costs associated with filing and pursuing its protest, including reasonable attorneysfees.

Blue Origin is competing with United Launch Alliance, Northrop Grumman, and (also billionaire-owned) SpaceX for thejobs.

Private equity firm AE Industrial Partners has acquired AIM MRO, a leading manufacturer and supply chain manager of highly engineered consumable repair products and materials used primarily in the aerospace engine aftermarket. Its the private equity firms fifth acquisition thisyear.

The White House announced Thursday that President Trump plans to nominate James McPherson, the U.S. Army general council, to be Army undersecretary. A retired rear admiral who served as the Navys top JAG, McPherson has been serving as Army undersecretary since Ryan McCarthy moved up to the Armys top job over thesummer.

The White House announced on Nov. 25 that President Trump plans to nominate Charles Williams, a retired rear admiral, to be an assistant secretary of the Navy for installations, energy and the environment. Williams retired from the Navy in2005.

Boeing PR executive Anne Toulouse will retire from the companys top communications post at the end of the year, Boeing announced.

The Aerospace Industries Association will honor longtime Northrop Grumman spokesman Brandon Randy Belote with the 2019 Lauren Deac Lyman award for outstanding achievement in aerospacecommunications.

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1 in 4 Americans Think Russia's an ally; Sobering shipyard news; Reagan Forum preview, and more... - Defense One