Saturday, April 27, 2024
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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.
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.
The White House, following a major foreign policy address at the U.S. Military Academy by President Obama, released a statement outlining the administration's plan to fund a new $5 billion counterterrorism partnership program using wartime supplemental funds.
The Senate Armed Services Committee sought to protect most of the Army's acquisition programs in the $514 billion defense authorization legislation it passed this week, though it defied the service's wishes and moved to recommend the establishment of an independent commission to study the Army's controversial aviation restructure and force reduction strategy.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has passed a fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill authorizing $514 billion in base funding and protecting a variety of acquisition programs that were slated for budgets cuts, according to lawmakers who spoke at a May 22 press conference.
The Army, after nearly a decade, has officially completed its transformation from a division-based structure to a brigade-oriented force and will no longer be required to provide annual reports to Congress on matter, according to a Federal Register notice released on May 22.
A Senate subcommittee has moved to recommend the establishment of an independent commission to study the proper size and force structure of the Army, though lawmakers were short on specifics.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), co-chair of the Senate National Guard Caucus, has introduced legislation that would establish an independent commission to determine the size and composition of the Army, putting him and his 18 co-sponsors at odds with the Army secretary and chief of staff.
The Defense Department is weighing the creation of a new ground vehicle technology consortium aimed at increasing cohesion between industry and the military in a variety of research and development projects, according to a Pentagon official.
The House Armed Services Committee outlined its budgetary handiwork this week in the panel's full mark of the fiscal year 2015 defense authorization bill, laying out acquisition program reductions and increases.
House lawmakers have proposed legislation that would direct the Army to provide Congress with a report on the service's plans to replace existing M113 infantry carriers with non-developmental Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles, withholding 20 percent of the program's funding until the report is delivered.
The National Guard Bureau this week laid out a proposal for how it might implement the Army's controversial aviation restructure initiative, which would transfer all AH-64 Apache helicopters from the Guard to the active force, according to government officials and documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.
High-ranking Pentagon officials have been visiting Capitol Hill to make the case for shrinking the Army and to support the service's controversial aviation restructure initiative, which have put the Army at odds with the National Guard, according to congressional sources and documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.