Sunday, April 28, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
The Navy will send the Austal-made Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-2) to a Florida shipyard to undergo repairs into next month after the service discovered corrosion problems on the vessel, according to Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Chris Johnson.
The Marine Corps hopes the analysis of alternatives for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle, which will begin this summer, will be completed in six months, according to Lt. Gen. George Flynn, head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
The Defense Department is waiting on two developments before it begins to identify its part of the $400 billion in new security savings President Obama called for over the next decade: the topline defense budget numbers for the next two fiscal years and the comprehensive strategy review, which is set to be completed by the end of this summer, according to Robert Work, the under secretary of the Navy.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has outlined seven science and technology (S&T) priorities for the Defense Department as it builds its program plans for the next five years, according to an April 19 memorandum that directs the development of roadmaps in each area.
New details emerged today about President Obama's call for new cuts to the Defense Department's budget, with one administration official telling InsideDefense.com that the $400 billion the president hopes to save will be spread throughout the national security community.
The Defense Department expects to sell foreign militaries a record-breaking $46.1 billion worth of arms and equipment during 2011, according to Richard Genaille, the deputy director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which handles sales between the U.S. and foreign militaries.
President Obama's decision to assign U.S. Northern Command the lead role for the Arctic in the 2011 edition of the Unified Command Plan will simplify command and control in the region, a senior defense official said today.
The Marine Corps' new energy strategy will begin implementation this year and will be fully funded by fiscal year 2013, according to the strategy released this morning.
The Marine Corps' plan to reshape its forces after the war in Afghanistan will take place before the drawdown from the country begins, Commandant Gen. James Amos told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee today.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week issued a memo authorizing the military to perform humanitarian missions in Japan, granting the authority to spend $35 million on relief operations, according to a Navy briefing obtained by Inside the Navy.
The commandant of the Marine Corps said today that he is open to scaling back the requirements of the F-35B, his service's variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, but stressed that the service is not seriously considering that option.
If Congress passes another continuing resolution following a two-week extension that was approved today, the chairman of the House seapower and projection forces subcommittee wants to ensure the Defense Department is given the authority to reprogram its accounts and begin programs that were scheduled to start in 2011.
The Navy launched the Unmanned Combat Air System System Demonstration platform for the second time yesterday, according to chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead.
The head of the U.S. 7th fleet revealed plans this week for an increased naval presence in the Asia-Pacific region, divulging details about the deployment of Ohio-class guided missile submarines, the doubling of the Navy's mine countermeasures ships in the area and added submarine maintenance facilities in Guam and Diego Garcia, as well as the use of civilian shipyards in Vietnam for maintenance on Navy ships.
The Obama administration is requesting $75 million in fiscal year 2012 for Yemen's military and interior ministry, according to a senior Pentagon official.
The Defense Department's inability to produce a full audit, despite being required to do so by law, has little impact on its finances though it would benefit the department's public image, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale said today.
The Defense Department is scrutinizing the sprawling system of "intelligence-like organizations" that sprang up to support combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq with an eye toward shrinking the number needed as the U.S. military begins to withdraw troops from both countries, according to a Jan. 28 memo from the department's intelligence chief.
The Navy heavily boosted Fire Scout buys, added seven P-8As to the future years defense plan and made the expected additions and subtractions to its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet procurement and Joint Strike Fighter buys, according to the president's fiscal year 2012 budget proposal rolled out today.
A new interagency counter-trafficking center under the direction of U.S. European Command is scheduled to reach full operating capability by September, according U.S. military officials.
The Navy wants to run its aircraft and ships on 100 percent biofuel but cannot because the fuel is not a proper detergent for the engines, a problem the service wants industry's help in solving, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said during a Jan. 25 clean energy conference in Washington.