This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has a deep dive on the Air Force's Next Generation Air-Refueling System plus companies getting contracts to deploy advanced AI capabilities on the Pentagon's classified networks and more.

The Air Force still can't afford to give the Next Generation Air-Refueling System the greenlight:

SPECIAL REPORT: Financial pressure pushed Air Force to pull the reins on NGAS

The Air Force's decision to demote the next-generation tanker effort to a subprogram in the fiscal year 2027 budget request is driven by operational analysis and underlying fiscal constraints, several sources told Inside Defense.

Seven companies -- SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services -- struck agreements last month with the department to deploy advanced AI capabilities on the Pentagon's classified networks:

DOD shifts two-thirds of classified AI work away from Anthropic

The Defense Department has already transitioned more than two-thirds of its work on classified networks to alternative artificial intelligence providers ahead of a September deadline to phase out technology from AI firm Anthropic, the Pentagon's research and engineering chief said Friday.

(Check out our newest publication, Inside Defense/AI!)

A new presidential memo outlines a cybersecurity governance plan for national security systems:

Trump issues memo revising cybersecurity policy for national security systems

President Trump has issued a national security memorandum revamping the government's approach to securing national security systems, rescinding a Biden-era instruction tied to a 2021 cybersecurity order and moving toward new requirements for cloud-based environments.

U.S. demand for PCBs, the structural backbone of electronic components, was $18 billion in 2025, while supply in the U.S., Mexico and South America combined came out well short of that, at around $3.4 billion:

Domestic PCB supply chain 'less than 20% self-sufficient,' according to U.S. official

The domestic supply chain for printed circuit boards in the United States is "less than 20% self-sufficient," according to a U.S. official, forcing reliance on supply chains tied to foreign nations like China and presenting challenges to the Army as it works to rapidly build data centers by leasing land to the private sector.

A recently issued Government Accountability Office report "assesses the extent to which [the F-35 Joint Program Office] has evaluated the performance of its sustainment strategy and managed sustainment responsibilities with contractors to achieve goals, among other objectives":

F-35 office needs $13.7B more than planned for sustainment over 5 years

The F-35 Joint Program Office determined last October that it will need about $13.7 billion more than previously planned for sustainment through fiscal year 2031, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

Document: GAO report on F-35 sustainment