Thursday, May 2, 2024
Key Issues HADES deployment SAOC contract FORGE framework
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis supports congressional efforts to expand U.S. military investments in the Asia-Pacific region, specifically highlighting initiatives put forth by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) and his House counterpart Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) to add billions in new spending.
China continues to pursue a robust military modernization agenda intended to bolster its global influence as it remains engaged in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas, according to an annual report released June 6 by the Defense Department.
The military services last week separately sent Congress lists identifying $32 billion worth of unfunded priorities in fiscal year 2018, nearly $10 billion more than they sought the previous year.
The week ahead features budget and modernization hearings on Capitol Hill and appearances by the Pentagon's only military service secretary.
Inside Defense has obtained fiscal year 2018 unfunded priorities lists for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps totaling approximately $32 billion.
The Marine Corps has sent Congress a $3.1 billion unfunded priorities list that includes six additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
A few must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon.
Pentagon officials have spent the past week both defending the size of the fiscal year 2018 defense budget request and pledging to seek larger spending increases in FY-19, but several defense analysts doubt the Trump administration can live up to its promises for a transformational military buildup.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), who recently introduced legislation to bolster U.S. national security investments in the Asia Pacific, is visiting the region on a four-nation tour this week.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, is criticizing the Trump administration's fiscal year 2018 defense budget for saying it would increase the size of the military by 56,000 servicemembers, when, in fact, Congress already authorized the bulk of the requested increase last year.
Think tanks will hold defense-related panel discussions, while defense industry executives are scheduled to speak at conferences this Memorial Day-shortened week. Congress is on a one-week break.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) introduced a bill this week that would authorize $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2018 for spending aimed at strengthening the U.S. military posture in the Asia Pacific, including procurement of additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a joint resolution today seeking to block the proposed $110 billion sale of precision-guided munitions and other weapons to Saudi Arabia.
The Senate unanimously confirmed three new senior Pentagon officials today.
Pentagon officials this week defended the fiscal year 2018 budget request against GOP lawmakers' complaints that the request is only 3 percent more than that planned by the Obama administration.
President Trump intends to nominate Robert Hood, vice president of government affairs for engineering company CH2M, to become the Pentagon's next assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, according to an announcement from the White House.
The Defense Department is requesting $574.5 billion in base spending for fiscal year 2018 and $64.5 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations funding, which in total include $208.6 billion in acquisition spending on major weapon systems, according to documents released by the Pentagon.
Budget tables released Monday by the White House Office of Budget and Management indicate the Trump administration's fiscal year 2018 defense budget is actually a placeholder for the FY-19 strategy that won't be submitted until February at the earliest.
Driving the week is the release of the federal budget, planned for Tuesday, while an array of budget-related hearings have been scheduled for Capitol Hill. Also, President Trump is traveling abroad to the Middle East and Europe.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis provided new information today on the campaign to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, saying the U.S. military's role in the fight will end when local police are capable of managing the threat in the region.