Thursday, January 16, 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 shifting management of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization from the Army to the office of the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (AT&L), according to a recent memo Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work sent to congressional defense leaders.
Frank Kendall, the Defense Department's acquisition chief, says he has heard defense contractors loud and clear and has sent a memo to Pentagon program managers reiterating DOD's policy of only using lowest-priced, technically acceptable (LPTA) contracts when appropriate and not as default arrangements.
The Pentagon sees a recent Government Accountability Office report on defense acquisition program cost growth as evidence that its ongoing measures to control costs have been successful, though the government watchdog is not quite on the same page.
The United States has committed an additional $75 million in nonlethal military aid to Ukraine, including more than 200 humvees and a number of unmanned surveillance aircraft, according to Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
The Pentagon promised to deliver $118 million of nonlethal military aid to Ukraine in October, but only around half of it has actually been sent and Brian McKeon, the under secretary of defense for policy, is having difficulty explaining why.
Leaders of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee told Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey on Wednesday that they will likely be forced to craft a fiscal year 2016 defense budget that complies with the existing Budget Control Act spending caps.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter issued new warnings Tuesday on the potential impacts of sequestration, notably that half of the cuts would come from the Pentagon's modernization accounts for weapons procurement and development in fiscal year 2016.
The Army has found wheeled medical vehicles "unsuitable" to support its armored brigade combat teams, according to a recent report to Congress poised to become the latest volley in the service's conflict with General Dynamics Land Systems over an infantry carrier replacement program worth up to $12.8 billion.
The Defense Department could not provide "sufficiently reliable data" to determine the number, total cost or performance of its non-major acquisition programs, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
Leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee have sent a letter to their counterparts on the budget committee arguing for the need to restore fiscal year 2016 defense spending to pre-sequestration levels, citing the promise of potential savings that has drawn skepticism from the Pentagon comptroller.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and 30 other GOP lawmakers are asking the House Budget Committee to approve a fiscal year 2016 Pentagon base budget that is at least $566 billion, or $32 billion more than President Obama has requested -- breaking the Budgetary Control Act spending caps by $67 billion and setting the stage for a internal GOP standoff over defense spending.
NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove said Wednesday that U.S. military teams have assessed what kinds of weapons Ukraine would need to defend its eastern borders against Russian-backed separatists, though the Obama administration continues to seek a diplomatic solution.
General Dynamics Land Systems continues to seek congressional cover for efforts to angle into the Army's ongoing $12.8 billion M113 infantry carrier replacement program, most recently garnering support from more than 30 lawmakers who back the company's argument that a wheeled Stryker ambulance is safer than a tracked vehicle when transporting soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to government officials and documents.
The Pentagon is in the process of identifying various weapon systems to serve as "pilots" for a more "streamlined acquisition" approach, according to a recent Defense Department letter to the Government Accountability Office.
Marion Blakey will be stepping down as president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association to become president and CEO of Rolls Royce North America, according to an announcement from AIA.
Officials planning the Pentagon's first Long Range Research and Development Plan in more than 40 years have received a significant response from what they call “non-traditional” private sector companies hoping to influence the Defense Department's future technology investments, despite the lack of any near-term budget commitment.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work today advised the Pentagon workforce to “buckle up” for the upcoming tenure of Ashton Carter, who took the helm at DOD this week.
Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord addressed two possible areas Wednesday that some analysts think could give the Defense Department some budgetary breathing room in the face of sequestration in fiscal year 2016: The plunging price of oil and DOD's $105 billion in unobligated funds from prior years.
The Obama administration on Tuesday approved increasing the export of armed drones to U.S. allies, potentially setting the stage for a surge in the sale of unmanned aerial systems from American defense contractors, according to a fact sheet released by the State Department.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter officially took the helm at the Pentagon on Tuesday morning, releasing a statement in which he told the Defense Department workforce to prepare for change, singling out acquisition and business process reforms.