Saturday, December 7, 2024
Key Issues MQ-25 Stingray USSF pLEO spending cap JLTV funding
The nascent Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and the new all-terrain variant of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle deploying to Afghanistan will not compete for program dollars over the next three years, even though the extent to which the JLTV's role could be impacted by M-ATV is still under discussion at the Pentagon, a deputy Navy secretary said today.
The Navy will consolidate the director of naval intelligence and the deputy chief of naval operations for communication networks into a single organization to cover all Navy information-related areas, according to a July 1 e-mail sent by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead.
Lawmakers "didn't have a clue" that the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter effort had escalated dramatically in cost before Defense Secretary Robert Gates halted the program earlier this year, Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said this morning.
The Navy must figure out a way to leverage the $3.2 billion it has already spent in research and development of the canceled VH-71 presidential helicopter, the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee said today, calling it "unacceptable" to do otherwise.
The Marine Corps has recommended to the chief of naval operations that a common LPD-17 hull form be used for the command ship replacement, the service's top officer told Senate lawmakers today.
The final version of the Navy's fiscal year 2010 unfunded requirements list, sent to Congress this week after being reviewed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, contains $395 million for aviation and ship depot maintenance but omits mention of $462 million that had been sought to repair aging P-3C Orion aircraft.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is now officially just that, sworn in to the position yesterday, according to the service.
The Navy's wish list to Congress for programs left unfunded in the fiscal year 2010 budget request could total just $857 million, a dramatic drop from last year, according to a pre-decisional draft document obtained by InsideDefense.com.
The Navy is requesting $14.9 billion in its fiscal year 2010 budget to buy eight ships and $18.4 billion for aircraft procurement, but the service's 30-year ship and aviation plans will not be submitted to Congress due to the ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review, the Navy's budget chief told reporters this afternoon.
The Navy delayed its next-generation cruiser effort because it was wary of "charging off" to build an expensive ship with potentially unnecessary technology and without fully understanding how it would fit into surface ship plans, the chief of naval operations said last week.
The Navy has decided to stick with the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) for the new Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) carrier class after reviewing the program's cost and schedule delays and weighing the feasibility of reverting to a steam catapult, the service announced today.
The House's chief defense appropriator said today he expects to receive the Obama administration's detailed fiscal year 2010 defense budget request on May 4.
The Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a contract today to construct the third Littoral Combat Ship, keeping the dollar amount secret because of an ongoing competition for future ships.
The Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle "may be canceled" unless the service can get research and development spending under control and boost transparency about the program, the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee said today.
A proposed $22 billion-per-year shipbuilding plan involving the use of more common hulls, a lower Littoral Combat Ship build rate and other cost-cutting measures would achieve big savings but is likely untenable in the current economic climate, an independent naval analyst said today.
The overall defense budget looks to be fairly immune from major cuts in the near term, but it faces a "grim" situation as the economy stabilizes and it becomes politically tenable to address deficit reduction again, two federal budget experts said today.
To ensure the Pentagon gets the best possible deal in the upcoming contract for a lighter version of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle that will be fielded in Afghanistan, the Marine Corps' top acquisition officer said yesterday that the program will incorporate tough pricing lessons learned in the MRAP program.
The Government Accountability Office has upheld the Coast Guard's decision to award a contract to Bollinger Shipyards for design and construction of the Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter, which the service's acquisition chief lauded as an external validation of extensive acquisition reforms.
Looking ahead to 2009, the Coast Guard's acquisition chief believes the Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter, which is expected to move into detailed design and construction, will produce dividends on work the service has done this year to reform its acquisitions processes.
After years of legal wrangling over whether the Navy had done enough to counter potential harm to whales from mid-frequency sonar used in anti-submarine training exercises, the service and environmental groups announced Dec. 27 that a settlement was reached.