Pentagon Urges Defense Industry to Sustain Work Amid Outbreak

(Bloomberg) -- The Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer said defense contractors are “expected to maintain their normal work schedules” within recommended guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amid the coronavirus outbreak because they’re considered “critical infrastructure.”

“If your contract or subcontract supports the development, production, testing or sustainment of our weapons systems/software systems or the infrastructure to support those activities, you are considered Essential Critical Infrastructure,” Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord wrote Friday in a memo to industry.

Within the defense industry, the definition applies to mechanical and software engineers, manufacturing personnel, information technology support and security, aircraft and weapons systems mechanics and engineers, medical suppliers and critical transportation specialists, Lord wrote.

Lord’s memo will be distributed to defense industry and governor associations as well as on Capitol Hill starting Friday. The memo follows an official designation Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security that the defense industrial base is considered a “critical infrastructure network.”

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