Welcome to today's Defense Business Briefing, your weekly roundup of the latest defense industry news.

This week's top story

Armada, Johnson Controls partner on Arizona factory for modular data center production

Armada announced today that Johnson Controls has made an equity investment to support construction of a 400,000-square-foot factory for continuous modular data center production.

News & notes

SOCOM plans to roll out OTA consortium next month

TAMPA, FL -- U.S. Special Operations Command plans to roll out a new other transaction authority consortium next month to rapidly execute prototyping contracts and accelerate the acquisition process.

DOD makes new solid-rocket motor supply chain investment

The Defense Department announced Friday a new $27.3 million investment in Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Co. to expand production of universal Arm Fire Devices, a critical safety component used in solid-rocket motors.

NIST finalizes guidance used by Pentagon's CMMC program on advanced persistent threats

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has finalized an update to guidance used by the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program to address advanced persistent threats, along with assessment guidance and new data formats.

Security researchers call for scaling up industry-level cyber coordination efforts in international conflicts

Security researchers from the threat intelligence community are highlighting potential avenues to bolster private-sector coordination of cybersecurity operations during international conflicts, in a look back at lessons learned from conducting and responding to cyber operations in Ukraine.

What's happening

The week ahead

Senior defense officials are scheduled to testify before several congressional committees this week, while an annual special operations forces conference gets underway.

For Inside Defense subscribers

MDA accelerates Low-Cost Interceptor, eyes 2028 intercept test as FY-27 budget jumps

The Missile Defense Agency is accelerating its Low-Cost Interceptor program, planning a prototype intercept test in 2028 and pouring fresh funding into an effort designed to flip the cost paradigm of missile defense and give the United States a way to absorb mass raids of ballistic, cruise and hypersonic threats.

Pentagon's 'FutureG' director heralds spending to enable autonomous weapons

The Defense Department is planning to release a wave of funds for developing the networking environment needed to support an influx of autonomous weapons seen as the future of warfare, particularly for deterring China, according to leaders in the Pentagon's research and engineering office.