The Defense Department intends to transfer $425 million in U.S. weapons to Ukraine, including air defense capabilities, air-to-ground weapons, munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.
Sunday, October 19, 2025
Sunday, October 19, 2025
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.
The Defense Department intends to transfer $425 million in U.S. weapons to Ukraine, including air defense capabilities, air-to-ground weapons, munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.
Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante chaired a meeting in Honolulu, HI, this week with national armaments directors from key U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific in the hopes of establishing a new forum capable of bolstering defense industrial capacity in the region.
Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events this week.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon is opposed to legislation that would require the Navy to purchase a second Virginia-class submarine in fiscal year 2025, along with numerous other provisions that could become part of the upcoming defense authorization bill.
President Biden announced nearly $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine today, including the Joint Standoff Weapon capable of long-range strikes against Russia and an additional Patriot missile system.
The Senate voted 78-18 to pass a three-month continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through Dec. 20.
The House voted 341-82 today to pass a three-month continuing resolution that would avert a partial government shutdown Oct. 1.
The Defense Department said today it is planning to continue to transfer U.S. weapons to Ukraine and will work to exhaust the nearly $6 billion in remaining spending provided by Congress before President Biden leaves office, despite the looming expiration of the congressional authority to do so.
House lawmakers volleyed bipartisan criticism at the Defense Department today for its years-long failure to achieve a clean financial audit, with one government watchdog warning that DOD still has a long road ahead of it before reaching the 2028 deadline mandated by Congress.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted today to advance the nominations of several senior Defense Department positions.
The House will likely vote this week on a bipartisan, three-month continuing resolution that will keep the federal government open through Dec. 20, which would avert a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1 but forgoes providing nearly $2 billion in funding for the Virginia-class submarine program.
Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events this week.
An amendment added to the Senate's version of the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill would direct the Pentagon to establish a new "Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Weapon Systems Center of Excellence."
The Senate Armed Services Committee has agreed to dozens of bipartisan amendments to its version of the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill and is preparing to enter conference negotiations with the House.
A proposed six-month continuing resolution proposed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was defeated by a vote of 202-220, with 14 Republicans joining 206 Democrats to bring it down.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown is warning Congress that the House GOP’s proposed six-month stopgap spending bill would hurt military readiness and modernization, partly by damaging the Pentagon's credibility with the defense industrial base.
The House Armed Services Committee today heard testimony from the National Defense Strategy Commission, which urged Congress to stop passing stopgap continuing resolutions that disrupt military readiness and modernization. Ironically, the House is scheduled to vote on such a measure later today.
Members of the National Defense Strategy Commission say they want their new report, which asserts the United States is woefully unprepared to compete militarily with China, to instill a sense of urgency in Congress and make an impact on the presidential election, though they acknowledge the attention of many senior lawmakers is elsewhere.
The Defense Department has established a new team to assist with the upcoming presidential transition and it is scheduled to begin operations next month.
Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events around Washington this week, including at a major Air and Space Forces Association conference.