Sunday, July 12, 2020
Key Issues Section 3610 costs Space AQ exec LCS
Jason Sherman is a reporter for Inside Defense. For more than two decades -- including stints with Defense News and Armed Forces Journal -- he has covered the Pentagon, defense industry, the military budget, weapon system acquisition and defense policy formulation as well as reporting on technology, business, and global arms trade. Jason has traveled to more than 40 countries, studied medieval history at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and lives in Brooklyn.
A House panel is proposing deep cuts to the Navy's fiscal year 2021 request for ship maintenance, repair and modernization, admonishing the service for its execution of a private contracted ship maintenance pilot program that aims to help address persistent and substantial maintenance delays that hamper the Navy's ability to restore readiness.
A third congressional defense oversight committee is objecting to the Pentagon's fiscal year 2021 proposal to put the Space Development Agency in charge of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor, a development that could keep the Missile Defense Agency running the project.
The Army is looking to increase funding this summer for a trio of munitions projects for the service's top modernization priority -- the Extended Range Cannon Artillery system, including bolstering funds for an effort that seeks to satisfy U.S. Army Pacific Command's desire for a Multi-Domain Cannon Artillery capability.
The Missile Defense Agency is mandating a single specific milestone only for the Next Generation Interceptor program -- emplacement of a new ballistic missile defense interceptor in the ground at Ft. Greely, AK, in 2028 -- and is otherwise allowing bidders to propose developmental milestones on the way to initial fielding.
The House Armed Services Committee last week adopted a provision that would direct the Defense Department to explore co-development with Japan of a new guided missile, a follow-on to the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptor developed by the two nations.
The Marine Corps wants to double the cash it has on hand in fiscal year 2020 to continue development of a new air defense capability that aims to stitch together elements of the Israeli-designed Iron Dome system with the service's organic sensors and command-and-control tools.
The Pentagon is seeking congressional permission to shift $2 billion between budget accounts as part of an annual reallocation of funds the U.S. military has in hand, launch five new-start projects and shift funds the Defense Department says are required immediately to achieve U.S. Space Command "critical mission capability."
Japan's decision to halt plans for two Aegis Ashore systems is driven by concerns of local communities about the deployment of the land-based ballistic missile defense system and there are 'a number of options' to get the project back on track, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
The Defense Department has completed a study that will determine the fate of the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii, a planned $1 billion, long-range, ground sensor project that was effectively defunded in the fiscal year 2021 budget request in order to bolster resources for space-based sensors, according to a senior official. (UPDATED)
The Defense Department has reworked its weapons technology development priorities, elevating microelectronics to the No. 1 position -- a move that bumps maneuvering hypersonic technology development from the top to the No. 3 post, with 5G technology development pulling into the No. 2 billet between them, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Two congressional committees are again coming to the rescue of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor program, each recommending a $120 million increase for an ostensible Pentagon priority that was not funded in the fiscal year 2021 budget request and rejecting the Defense Department's gambit to shift responsibility for the project from the Missile Defense Agency to the Space Development Agency.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is proposing legislation that would withhold support for adopting ballistic missile defense systems originally designed for regional missions to protect the U.S. homeland in a new "layered" architecture.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is proposing legislation mandating the Defense Department develop an "interim" Ground-based Interceptor capability to upgrade the current homeland ballistic missile defense fleet and field 20 of the new guided missiles in currently empty Alaska silos by the mid-2020s, a project that -- if enacted -- could siphon funds from the Missile Defense Agency's priorities.
A Senate panel is proposing legislation to re-instate -- after a brief hiatus -- the requirement for the Pentagon to produce an annual aviation inventory and funding plan, a move that could provide lawmakers as well as aerospace and defense analysts insight into the U.S. long-term investment plans for the approximately 14,000 aircraft flown by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
Mike Griffin, the Pentagon's top technology officer, and his deputy Lisa Porter, will step down next month, according to a Defense Department official.
Lawmakers are proposing new reporting requirements for the Next Generation Interceptor development program that could -- if enacted -- impose additional congressional oversight on the new counter-intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system.
A key House panel wants the Defense Department to draw up options for improving currently fielded Ground-based Interceptors, forging a potential new program to both upgrade and expand the existing homeland ballistic missile defense fleet that could compete with the Pentagon's new plan for a "layered" homeland defense architecture.
A key House panel has declined to endorse the Pentagon's plans for a a layered homeland ballistic missile defense architecture based on the newest Aegis ballistic missile interceptor and a new variant of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor and instead directed a comprehensive analysis of alternatives for the mission to be conducted.
A House panel is proposing legislation that would direct the Navy to arm DDG-1000 destroyers with an intermediate-range hypersonic weapon, require a sweeping analysis of alternatives before the Missile Defense Agency commits to a new layered homeland defense architecture, require the president to participate in an annual nuclear command and control exercise, and provide an unclassified report on foreign nuclear weapon programs.
The Defense Department has established a Joint Hypersonic Transition Office and charged the new shop with overseeing creation of a university-led consortium to expand cooperation between academia, industry and government as part of the U.S. military's goal to eventually scale production of a new class of high-speed, maneuvering weapons.