Five Defense Department officials have asked Senate lawmakers to pass a budget to help mitigate the impact of sequestration budget cuts and lack of stable funds on DoD’s industrial infrastructure and military readiness, DoD News reported Thursday.

Jim Garamone writes the officials told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s readiness and management support subpanel Wednesday that lack of funds and continuing resolution have resulted in maintenance backlogs across service branches.

“The longer the Army operates under the budget caps in an unpredictable fiscal environment, the more difficult it is to sustain production and retain a skilled workforce,” said Lt. Gen. Larry Wyche, deputy commander of Army Materiel Command.

Other concerns the officials raised at the Senate subcommittee hearing include backlogs in shipyard maintenance, aging aircraft fleet and shortage in skilled workforce.

Other DoD officials who testified at the Senate hearing include Lt. Gen. Lee Levy, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command’s air force sustainment center, Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command; Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Dana, deputy commandant for installations and logistics; and Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command.

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn seeks “immunity from prosecution” in exchange for testimony before House and Senate intelligence committees investigating Russia’s involvement in U.S. presidential electoral activities, Reuters reported Thursday.

Eric Beech writes Flynn resigned last month amid reports that he gave top White House officials incomplete information about his communications with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak late last year.

Robert Kelner, a Covington and Burling attorney representing Flynn, said there were discussions about the retired Army lieutenant general’s availability to attend future congressional hearings on the matter, the report stated.

“Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit,” Kelner was quoted as saying.

The Hill newspaper reported Flynn faces allegation that he discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia for malicious cyber activities tied to the recent election with Kislyak.

The FBI and intelligence committees in the House and Senate launched investigations on potential ties between between Russian officials and the Trump administration after the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Russia interfered in the election, according to the story by Brooke Seipel.

Rear Adm. David Lewis, chief of the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, has been nominated for assignment as director of the Defense Contract Management Agency and for promotion to the rank of vice admiral, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

Lewis elevated to the role of SPAWAR commander in August 2014 after he spent four years as program executive officer for ships where he managed the service branch’s shipbuilding programs and foreign military sales deals for amphibious vessels, surface combatants and logistics support.

The 38-year Navy veteran is former vice commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command.

His assignments ashore include roles as commander of the Naval Surface Forces, supervisor of shipbuilding in Bath, Maine, and assistant chief of staff for maintenance and engineering.

Lewis also served as Aegis shipbuilding program manager under PEO for ships, where he oversaw the delivery of DDG 51-class ships and acquisition of 10 more vessels.

DCMA is a DoD agency that works with defense contractors to facilitate the delivery of goods and services to DoD, federal and other allied agencies through development of solicitations and contracts and assessment of contractors’ management systems and performance.

The U.S. Army wants to partner with a team of companies to design, build and test a next-generation combat vehicle prototype, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Jen Judson writes Todd Thomas, a project manager at the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, told Defense News the service branch is scheduled to discuss the prototyping effort with interested companies on Wednesday.

TARDEC aims to complete the prototype by fiscal 2022 and conduct operational tests sometime in 2023.

Thomas added that TARDEC looks to award a contract to a selected industry team in September to develop an infantry fighting vehicle based upon a “squad-centric mounted maneuver concept.”

Army leaders will issue work directives for the seven-year collaborative effort based on requirements that have to be addressed within the contract period, Judson reported.

The Defense Information Systems Agency has introduced cyber evaluation program meant to help combatant commands and federal agencies examine operational risks of missions based on a network’s current state of cybersecurity.

DISA said Wednesday the Command Cyber Operational Readiness Inspection program will assess organizations’ compliance with Defense Department directives and security orders as well as evaluate networks’ physical and traditional security posture along with potential vulnerabilities.

CCORI, an updated model of the Command Cyber Readiness Inspection process, also supports the DoD Cybersecurity Culture and Compliance Initiative.

Jimaye Sones, director of the DOD Information Networks readiness and security inspections directorate, said that site commanders of selected facilities under CCORI will receive input on their networks’ security.

“They will understand what impact the vulnerabilities found in a traditional CCRI have, in terms of the threat to their mission, if an adversary takes advantage of the vulnerabilities,” Sones added.

DISA noted it will continue to plan traditional CCRIs along with cybersecurity service provider and public key infrastructure audits at multiple DODIN sites in addition to the CCORIs.