House and Senate appropriators want the Defense Department to produce a report on the payment of fees and bonuses to contractors with "documented performance issues."
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Key Issues AETP China-Taiwan scenarios E-7 Wedgetail
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.
House and Senate appropriators want the Defense Department to produce a report on the payment of fees and bonuses to contractors with "documented performance issues."
The Pentagon is realigning $81.4 million to strengthen and secure high-tech supply chains in the U.S. defense industrial base, with much of the funding headed toward directed-energy weapons, electric vehicle batteries, nuclear missile aeroshells, and the recycling of rare earth elements, according to an internal reprogramming notice released today.
President Biden today announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, which includes a host of U.S. weapons transfers to help that nation continue to fend off an ongoing Russian invasion.
The Defense Department, flush with $3.5 billion in emergency supplemental spending granted by Congress, is considering a range of additional military equipment that can be transferred to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself from the ongoing Russian invasion.
President Biden has signed into law a massive fiscal year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill that will spend $782 billion on national defense, which is $30 billion more than he initially requested and $42 billion more than what Congress enacted in FY-21.
The Senate Armed Services Committee intends to hold a nomination hearing for Bill LaPlante, President Biden's choice for Pentagon acquisition chief, and other senior defense nominees, on March 22, according to a Senate aide.
The Pentagon's chief data officer stepped down last week and new senior officials were named to the department's new data and artificial intelligence management team.
Congressional appropriators say they support the Defense Department's plans to request money for a new rapid prototyping and experimentation fund in the upcoming budget, but they have also tagged several existing research and development accounts they want DOD to review to ensure against redundancy.
Senior defense officials are slated to speak at several events this week and some will appear on Capitol Hill as "posture season" begins to move into full swing.
The White House today announced President Biden intends to nominate several individuals for senior Pentagon jobs.
The House and Senate have passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2022, that includes $782 billion for national defense, and it now is headed for President Biden's desk.
A new spending deal passed by Congress contains a provision mandating U.S. military leaders provide lawmakers with additional information when they submit their annual lists of "unfunded priorities," such as whether or not they have yet obligated previously appropriated UPL funds.
The Defense Department says North Korea conducted two ballistic missile tests, one on Feb. 26 and one on March 4, that involved a new intercontinental ballistic missile system first unveiled in October 2020.
The Project on Government Oversight has obtained and released the "controlled unclassified information" version of the annual report authored by the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation.
Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord, who today discussed the recently released fiscal year 2022 defense appropriations deal and teased the upcoming FY-23 budget submission, said he believes U.S. national security is ready to "turn a corner," partly because of growing congressional consensus driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Congress has hammered out a final fiscal year 2022 spending package with $782 billion for total U.S. defense, which is $4 billion more than what lawmakers previously authorized and about $30 billion more than President Biden initially requested.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines assured lawmakers today that long-term competition with China remains the U.S. intelligence community's No. 1 priority, but noted the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine represents a challenge in which the "urgent" potentially "crowds out the important."
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds on, the Pentagon is requesting information from defense contractors as to whether they can help provide new capabilities for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in a bid to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.
Senior defense officials are slated to speak at several events this week, while lawmakers convene to avoid a government shutdown scheduled for Friday.
The National Defense Industrial Association announced today it is looking for a new chief executive officer now that Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle is stepping down after five years at the helm.