The U.S. Navy has accepted the delivery of the USS Beloit, or LCS 29, from Lockheed Martin at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin on Sept. 30.

The Naval Sea Systems Command said Tuesday the USS Beloit, named after the city of Beloit, Wisconsin, completed its acceptance trials in August, which involved testing its combat and electrical systems, main propulsion and auxiliaries.

The LCS 29 will undergo post-delivery certifications and qualifications to ensure its readiness in actual fleet operations. Commissioning will be conducted later this year and then homeported in Mayport, Florida.

The Beloit, the 15th Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship, is equipped with the Freedom-class combining gear correction, which addresses a class-wide issue and enables unrestricted operations.

Capt. Matthew Lehmann, program manager of the Littoral Combat Ship program office, commended the prompt delivery, saying, “Beloit is another shining example of what it means to finish strong. Our industry partners stood up to the challenge to deliver this ship on an aggressive schedule.”

The future USS Cleveland, or LCS 31, is nearing completion and is expected to be delivered in 2025.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said the establishment of the Defense Security Cooperation Service is one of the results of a tiger-team review aimed at improving the foreign military sales process and other security cooperation efforts.

“Now, the launch of the Defense Security Cooperation Service comes at a pivotal moment for America’s security cooperation enterprise. Because the assistance you provide our allies and partners is more in-demand than ever before,” Hicks said Tuesday during her speech at the Pentagon.

“Why so much demand? It’s because like-minded nations and democracies around the world, from Eastern Europe to the western Pacific, are worried about naked aggression in their own backyards, to an extent that they haven’t contemplated in a long time,” added the 2024 Wash100 awardee.

Federal News Network reported that DSCS will help ensure that security cooperation officers are better prepared to work with allies and partners during the foreign arms transfer process and will provide a range of services, including human resources training, budgeting, policy support and family care.

“Launching the DSCS has been a priority for two reasons. First, it’s a critical pathway to strengthen relationships with allies and partners, which is a key component of our national defense strategy. And second, DSCS will develop a workforce that can adapt to the dynamic geopolitical environment while simultaneously bringing expertise into the security cooperation environment,” said Amanda Dory, acting under secretary of defense for policy.

Register now to attend the Potomac Officers Club’s GovCon International Summit on Oct. 10. Listen to speakers as they discuss how international partnerships, emerging technologies and coalition warfare are reshaping the defense landscape and how the U.S. can stay ahead of the curve.

The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems has changed its name to Program Executive Office Enterprise.

PEO Enterprise said the change became official on Tuesday and was approved on Sept. 4 by Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Douglas Bush, a 2023 Wash100 Award winner.

The name change aligns with the PEO’s mission of delivering enterprise business offerings that drive U.S. Army dominance. The new name and modernized branding coincide with the organization’s digital transformation initiative.

The rebranding follows the PEO Optimization in October 2023 when the PEO EIS network portfolios were transitioned to other PEOs. This enabled the PEO EIS to focus on mission-critical Army software and new enterprise requirements, including the United Data Reference Architecture.

The new name was first previewed during AFCEA TechNet Augusta in August 2024.

Bill Hepworth, program executive officer of the PEO, noted that simplicity is one of the core pillars of the organization, said, “The new PEO Enterprise branding has been simplified to reflect a more modern, agile organization with a mission that’s broad and flexible enough to include enterprise software and technology services, both now and in the future.”

The organization, known as the Program Executive Office, Standard Army Management Information System when it was established in 1987, changed its name to PEO EIS in 2001.

The Department of Defense has released a document establishing policy and outlining the authorities for the administration of DOD’s Value Engineering Program.

The latest DOD Instruction took effect Tuesday, Oct. 1, and was approved by Heidi Shyu, DOD’s undersecretary for research and engineering and a 2024 Wash100 awardee.

Value engineering, or VE, allows DOD components to analyze the functions of projects, programs, systems, products and services, among others, and reportedly plays a key role in helping the department meet its mission of providing the military with the equipment and other systems needed to deter war and protect national security.

The issuance states that DOD components should implement a VE program to foster innovation, enhance value and reduce costs over the acquisition and operation life cycle.

A component VE program has two areas: a government-only program using VE proposals to implement changes and a government contractor process that uses contractor-initiated VE change proposals, or VECPs, to implement government-approved changes.

The instruction outlines the responsibilities of the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering—or USD R&E—and DOD component heads, as well as those of the two governance bodies: the department’s VE executive steering group and the VE management advisory group.