Thursday, May 2, 2024
Key Issues HADES deployment SAOC contract FORGE framework
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.
Leaked budget numbers indicate the White House intends to send a fiscal year 2024 request to Congress that would increase the Pentagon's modernization investments by about 4% above what lawmakers enacted for FY-23, but some analysts say that represents flat growth, or even a small cut when adjusted for inflation.
The Defense Department's recently established Office of Strategic Capital intends to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Small Business Administration's Office of Investment and Innovation to help increase early-stage private investment in critical technologies, according to a Pentagon announcement.
The State Department has notified Congress of a possible $1.4 billion foreign military sale to Japan of E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency notice.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) today unsuccessfully tried to get the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command to pledge that he would not send Congress an unfunded priorities list following the White House's regular budget request.
The fiscal year 2024 defense budget request is scheduled to be released this week. Meanwhile, senior defense officials are slated to speak at several public events and testify on Capitol Hill.
The Defense Department today announced a new $400 million military aid package for Ukraine that will immediately transfer weapons from U.S. stocks.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin today released a "message to the force," again centering China as the Pentagon's "pacing challenge," and pledging continued security assistance for Ukraine and Taiwan.
A key congressional commission tasked with reforming the Pentagon's much-criticized budget planning and programming process today released a "status update" on its ongoing work to understand the challenges facing the 1960s-era system currently in place.
The Defense Policy Board is scheduled to meet in closed session March 7-8 to hold classified discussions on Pentagon "information operations."
The Defense Business Board is scheduled to meet at the Pentagon on March 17 to discuss a new study on "building a civilian talent pipeline."
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, who recently released a report on the collapse of the Afghan military, said a special agency similar to SIGAR should be established to oversee the nearly $100 billion in U.S. security and humanitarian support flowing to Ukraine.
The Defense Department's policy chief said the Biden administration is hesitant to send F-16 aircraft to Ukraine for several reasons, including timing and cost, despite new calls from Congress and requests from Kyiv to do so.
Senior defense officials are scheduled to appear before Congress this week and are also slated to speak at several think tank events.
A top State Department official said today the United States has an opportunity to surge foreign military sales, especially to countries seeking to "diversify" their arsenals away from Russian suppliers as Moscow struggles to maintain its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The Defense Department announced a $2 billion security assistance package to Ukraine today on the one-year anniversary of the ongoing Russian invasion, including additional unmanned drones, counter-drone systems, precision ammunition and electronic warfare detection equipment.
Amid the release of the Biden administration’s revised arms export policy, three leading defense business associations have sent recommendations to a special Pentagon "tiger team" charged with accelerating the U.S. foreign military sales process, especially for Taiwan, which senior military officials -- alarmed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- have said could be invaded by China in the coming years.
The Defense Department, coinciding with President Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine, has announced a $460 million military aid package that includes additional long-range ammunition and Javelin anti-tank weapons.
Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several public events in the Washington area this week.
A group of influential Washington analysts is inviting Pentagon and Capitol Hill insiders to convene at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation next week to discuss ways to "reprioritize" the nation's $858 billion defense budget ahead of what promises to be a bruising congressional debate likely to again pit defense hawks against deficit hawks.
The White House is planning to send Congress a defense budget request on March 9, but government officials say it won't contain many key programmatic details that will be released later.