Friday, April 19, 2024
Friday, April 19, 2024
The service vice chiefs' testimony on military readiness, plus news on Air Force bombers, the Space-Based Infrared System and more highlight this Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest.
More money could help ease readiness problems, according to the service vice chiefs:
Military's tone on readiness shifts from alarm to guarded optimism
The military service vice chiefs, who last year generated alarm by testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee that U.S. military readiness had been compromised, this week delivered a more optimistic message following a bipartisan budget deal poised to pump an additional $165 billion into the Defense Department over the next two years.
Document: Service vice chiefs' testimony on military readiness
The Air Force is floating its updated bomber roadmap, or vector, and a basing strategy to members of Congress:
Air Force to phase out B-2, B-1 bombers; kicks off B-52 re-engining
The Air Force's fiscal year 2019 budget request reveals some details of its plan to retire legacy B-2 and B-1 bombers as it begins to field the B-21 in the mid 2020s.
The Air Force's new budget request for the SBIRS program calls for $643 million in FY-19 research and development funds, $936 million in FY-20, $1.5 billion in FY-21, $2.2 billion in FY-22 and $2 billion in FY-23:
Air Force outlines $7.3 billion five-year plan for future SBIRS architecture
The Air Force's fiscal year 2019 budget offers new details on its plan to recapitalize the Space-Based Infrared System and support future overhead persistent infrared requirements, even as the effort still lacks an approved acquisition strategy.
The Pentagon CIO's office is still determining how to execute its new NC3 authorities:
Newly empowered DOD CIO sets NC3 as top priority
The Defense Department's chief information officer, newly empowered by the latest defense policy bill, has set the modernization of the nuclear command, control and communications network as the office's top priority.
The Air Force's Next-Generation Air Dominance effort stands to double its funding in FY-19:
Air Force's five-year spending plan more than doubles funding for Next-Gen Air Dominance
The Air Force's budget outlook for Next-Generation Air Dominance has nearly doubled in its fiscal year 2019 funding request, which proposes $9.8 billion over the next five years to support continued experimentation and risk reduction for a new air dominance family of systems.
A proposed Defense Department deal with Raytheon would lock in five years of purchases for the SM-3 Block IB ballistic missile interceptor and the SM-6 guided missile:
DOD seeking multiyear deals with Raytheon worth nearly $4 billion for Standard Missiles
The Defense Department is seeking permission from Congress to negotiate a pair of multiyear contracts with Raytheon for Standard Missiles worth nearly $4 billion.
Defense Business Briefing
Want defense business news delivered straight to your inbox?
Inside Defense's free weekly feature, the Defense Business Briefing, offers the latest in defense industry news.