Highlights from Inside the Pentagon

By Tony Bertuca / August 17, 2017 at 11:33 AM

Some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon:

1. Former top Defense Department weapons testers are concerned a new bureaucratic shake-up, combined with the possible departure of Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), could weaken their former office's influence on decisions to procure multibillion-dollar weapon systems.

Full story: Plan to restructure DOD acquisition sparks concern among former weapons testers

2. The Defense Department is sidestepping a requirement to conduct a review of the U.S. military's future aircraft needs originally requested by Congress to produce a prioritized ranking -- or "optimized mix" -- of short- and long-range strike aircraft as well as the best combination of manned and unmanned platforms.

Full story: DOD ducks requirement to rank 'optimized mix' of U.S. military aircraft

3. The top Republican and Democrat on the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee have sent a letter to President Trump seeking his support for an additional $2.5 billion in missile defense funding for fiscal year 2018 in response to threats from North Korea.

Full story: House lawmakers seek Trump's support on additional missile defense funding

4. The Defense Department has tapped Science and Engineering Services to perform maintenance and training services for the Afghan Air Force's future fleet of UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters, according to a recent award notice.

Full story: DOD inks award for maintaining Afghan Air Force UH-60 helicopters

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