Thursday, April 24, 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 Pentagon is in the process of compiling a final list of acquisition programs to become pilot "Skunk Works" initiatives aimed at accelerating the Defense Department's acquisition cycles and eliminating the current, document-based approach, according to DOD.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall made a trip to Silicon Valley this week to visit a newly established unit charged with identifying emerging commercial technologies that could benefit defense.
The U.S. nuclear arsenal will require a total of $704 billion between fiscal years 2015 and 2039, with annual costs expected to rise most significantly from $17 billion in FY-15 to $34 billion in FY-29, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
The Defense Department inspector general is scheduled to release the results of several completed audits this month and has announced a list of new projects.
The week ahead is dominated by a major Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the procurement, acquisition, testing, and oversight of the Navy’s Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier program.
From this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon:
Senate late yesterday confirmed Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding Army Gen. Martin Dempsey.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 29 that the Pentagon can strike Iran anywhere and at any time if the Iranians welch on an agreement to halt development of a nuclear weapon.
All the military services have responded to a call from the Pentagon comptroller's office seeking lists of acquisition programs that would be adversely affected should Congress remain mired in budgetary gridlock and pass only a stopgap spending measure, according to Cmdr. Bill Urban, a Defense Department spokesman.
Thursday's planned senior leadership conference run by Defense Secretary Ash Carter will be aimed at getting the Pentagon's arms around budgetary challenges ahead in fiscal year 2017, specifically with regard to new investments in innovative technologies, according to Frank Kendall, the Defense Department's acquisition chief.
Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's top acquisition official, said today the Defense Department will review Lockheed Martin's planned $9 billion purchase of Sikorsky.
The week ahead is dominated by defense contractors earnings calls, a Senate Armed Services Committee nomination hearing for the next chief of naval operations and a (scheduled) senior leadership conference at the Pentagon.
The Congressional Research Service has found that contractor bid protests filed with the Government Accountability Office have increased 45 percent over the past six years as total government spending fell 25 percent, but CRS notes Defense Department contracts are the exception to the rule, according to a report obtained by InsideDefense.com.
Conference committee debate on the proposed Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act is scheduled to slip into September, though a compromise has emerged between House and Senate negotiators on the future of acquisition reform, according to sources on Capitol Hill.
The Pentagon released a report today detailing the findings of its investigation into how live samples of anthrax were inadvertently sent from a Defense Department lab to 86 locations worldwide.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted today to report 559 military nominations to the full Senate, including the nominations of Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Air Force Gen. Darren McDew to be head of U.S. Transportation Command.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter met today with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman to reassure the Saudis that the United States remained committed to their security in the wake of a historic nuclear deal with Iran, according to a Pentagon statement.
The Pentagon has sent a letter to Congress certifying the Iraqi government has done its part to match at least 40 percent of the $1.6 billion the United States has put toward training and equipping the Iraqi military in its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, though those efforts have come under fire on Capitol Hill in recent weeks for a perceived lack of progress.
The Pentagon announced today that a key al-Qaeda veteran and leader of the Khorasan Group was killed in a July 8 "kinetic strike" in Syria.
The office of the Army chief staff announced the following general officer assignments today: