House authorizers propose adding CUAS funding from Army UPL in chairman's mark

House authorizers have proposed adding millions of dollars in counter-drone funding in the chairman's mark of the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2025. The chairman’s mark , released today, would add $184.8 million in funding for counter-small UAS interceptors. This was the top line item listed on the Army’s unfunded priorities list for FY-25 that was released by the service in March following the rollout of the FY-25 request. Although not specified in the UPL, Politico reported in...

CITI mark-up assigns DIU to establish testing and evaluation pilot program

The House Armed Services cyber, information technologies and innovation subcommittee's fiscal year 2025 mark-up released today requires the Defense Innovation Unit to perform a pilot program that establishes new testing and evaluation pathways within the Defense Department. The subcommittee mark directs Doug Beck, DIU’s director, to create an “alternative testing and evaluation pathway to accelerate the testing and evaluation of technologies that have the potential to provide warfighting capabilities to the Department of Defense in the near-term and mid-term timeframes.”...

The INSIDER daily digest -- May 13, 2024

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill, Air Force depots and more. The House Armed Services Committee today released the draft chairman's and subcommittee marks for the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill: Document: House lawmakers' FY-25 defense policy bill marks We also have a deep dive into the Air Force's depot overhaul efforts: Air Force depots in line for robust, brand-new IT makeover The Air Force in...

Republican lawmakers call on Austin to send small, U.S.-made drones to Ukraine

Eleven Republican members of Congress sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin today calling for funds from the recent Ukraine supplemental to be spent on more small, U.S.-built drones and deployed to Ukraine, citing issues with Chinese-made drones being the main small drone supplier. Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Rich McCormick (R-GA), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Michael Turner (R-OH) and Don Bacon (R-NE)...

House lawmakers' FY-25 defense policy bill marks

On May 13, 2024 the House Armed Services Committee released the subcommittee marks for the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill.

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Lockheed awarded $332M contract for guided rockets

Lockheed Martin received a $332 million contract to manufacture the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System for the Army, the Defense Department announced Friday. In a modification to a 2022 indefinite-delivery contract, the Maryland-based company will build the rockets by an estimated completion date of Oct. 20, 2027, while the “work locations and funding will be determined with each order,” the May 10 announcement reads . Launched from the ground, the GMLRS is a GPS guided rocket designed to hit targets...

GOP lawmakers' letter on U.S.-made UAS

In a May 13, 2024 letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 11 House Republicans call for funds from the recent Ukraine supplemental to be spent on more small, U.S.-built drones and deployed to Ukraine, citing issues with Chinese-made drones being the main small drone supplier.

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Garamendi, Stabenow letter on reciprocal defense agreements

In a May 13, 2024 letter, House Armed Services readiness subcommittee Ranking Member Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) urge White House Made in America Office Director Livia Shmavonian to ensure the Defense Department's trade agreements -- formerly called reciprocal defense procurement agreements reform -- with allied foreign militaries are fair for U.S. workers and domestic manufacturing.

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Air Force depots in line for robust, brand-new IT makeover

The Air Force in September will release a dramatic, three-phased plan to overhaul its depots to be better equipped for a potential fight with a near-peer adversary, formally dubbed "The Air Force Depot Infrastructure Optimization Plan," a service spokesperson told Inside Defense May 9. The service’s three Air Logistics Complexes are where weapon systems are brought back to life by depot maintainers who repair, retool and revive platforms or other components critical for national security that are shuffled through...

The week ahead

Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events around Washington this week. Monday The Center on Foreign Relations hosts a discussion with senior military leaders on U.S. defense strategy . The Association of the United States Army holds its annual LanPac conference in Honolulu, HI . The Atlantic Council holds a discussion on strengthening the “middle ground” of the defense industrial landscape . Tuesday The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a discussion on U.S...

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