Friday, September 29, 2023
Key Issues SAR on SM-6 SAR on MPF SAR on F-15EX
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 Army general nominated to lead U.S. Special Operations Command told senators last week that the military still does not have as many intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities as it needs to execute its mission, especially in Africa.
The Army has sent Congress a plan for how it will spend $90 million lawmakers added to the service's Abrams tank program in fiscal year 2014 to help shore up the combat vehicle industrial base, though some of the money will go toward establishing “leaner” tank production processes, according to an internal presentation obtained by InsideDefense.com.
The Army has completed its long-awaited analysis of the combat vehicle industrial base, briefing Capitol Hill this week on an array of controversial findings that show ample opportunity exists for consolidation, according to an internal slide presentation obtained by InsideDefense.com.
Europe's largest multinational live-fire exercise, which wrapped last month, featured U.S. Army tank training for the first time, according to a NATO announcement marking the end of the event.
The Army's Rapid Equipping Force expects to continue assisting U.S. forces in Afghanistan throughout fiscal year 2015, to the tune of $10.6 million in research and development spending, though the REF notes in recent budget justification documents that the systems it procures will require "substantial" follow-on spending if the service is to sustain them.
It would be wrong to look at the recent defense budget analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies and conclude that America's best way forward in a time of fiscal austerity is to plan for a war with Russia and China, though that is what the report recommends, according to Clark Murdock, the analyst at CSIS who led the team that authored the study.
The Defense Department has updated its 2006 global strategy for countering weapons of mass destruction with a greater emphasis on a Pentagon-wide approach rather than a focus on military solutions, though the government still reserves the right to "act unilaterally, if necessary."
The Army has released a study detailing the impact massive end-strength reductions would have on 30 U.S. bases if full sequestration-level budget cuts remain in place.
The White House has submitted to Congress a $58.6 billion request for Defense Department overseas contingency operations funds in fiscal year 2015 to pay for ongoing operations in Afghanistan, but also to begin arming "vetted elements of the Syrian armed opposition" and support an array of counterterrorism partnerships in Africa and the Middle East.
Former senior defense officials gathered on Capitol Hill this week to pick apart the Pentagon's sprawling and oft-criticized system of acquisition regulations, while lawmakers remarked on the sense of futility that normally accompanies any effort to reform the way the Defense Department does business.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Senate appropriators that the United States has no choice but to fund President Obama's new $5 billion overseas contingency operations request to develop counterterrorism partnerships in Africa because the nation badly needs regional allies to address militant extremism.
Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall would like Congress to consider creating a new pool of cash that Defense Department officials would be allowed to dip into when acquisition programs hit "inevitable" rough patches, according to a letter he recently sent to Capitol Hill.
The Navy has identified nine defense companies whose performance qualifies them as "superior suppliers," which could put them in line for financial incentives, top Defense Department acquisition officials said at the Pentagon.
The debate over the use of cost-plus contracts instead of fixed-price contracts to drive down costs is a "red herring," the Defense Department has found during its second annual acquisition system performance review.
The Senate has confirmed Michael McCord as the next Defense Department comptroller by a 52-41 vote, succeeding Robert Hale, who has held the position for the past five years.
The Government Accountability Office has identified several "shortcomings" in the government's 10-year plan to spend $263.8 billion sustaining and modernizing U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities through fiscal year 2018, finding that budget estimates are incomplete and lack transparency, according to a June 10 report.
The House Appropriations Committee has marked up its version of the fiscal year 2015 defense spending bill and will report the legislation to the full House.
Despite having in the past forcefully railed against the looming automatic government budget cuts set to be triggered by sequestration, Lockheed Martin President and CEO Marillyn Hewson excluded the subject from her opening remarks at a June 9 press conference, focusing instead on the company's core U.S. military contracts, non-defense innovations and international business opportunities.
The Defense Department has released its annual report detailing the growth of China's military modernization and total defense spending, which DOD estimates to be $145 billion in fiscal year 2013, though the Chinese government has claimed $119 billion in expenditures.
After months of congressional lobbying, General Dynamics Land Systems has disclosed that it will not bid for the Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, exiting the competition before it officially begins.