Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the fiscal year 2022 defense spending bill and more.
We start off with a broad look at the just-released House Appropriations defense subcommittee's draft fiscal year 2022 defense spending bill:
House defense appropriators ready to boost DOD procurement by nearly $2 billion
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee wants to add $1.7 billion in Pentagon procurement funding to the Biden administration’s budget request, but cut weapons development funding by $1.6 billion, according to a draft of the fiscal year 2022 defense spending bill released today.
Document: House appropriators' draft FY-22 defense spending bill
. . . Followed by related news from the draft spending bill on Army ground vehicle and Air Force aircraft funding:
House panel would add humvee funding, cut other ground vehicles
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee has proposed funding Army National Guard humvee modernization in fiscal year 2022, despite the Army not requesting money for the program, according to a summary of the panel's draft mark released today.
House panel supports Air Force's fighter, tanker procurement request
House appropriators are proposing full funding for the Air Force's F-15EX and KC-46 fleets in their draft mark of fiscal year 2022 defense spending legislation, and, notably, are not recommending funds for additional F-35s beyond what the services requested in their budgets.
The head of the Missile Defense Agency says the Ballistic Missile Defense System will evolve over the next decade:
MDA eyes non-kinetic, soft-kill technology to help deal with threats in 2030s and beyond
The Pentagon is eyeing a next-generation Ballistic Missile Defense System that adds directed-energy weapons to its arsenal, including a potential high-powered airborne laser to defeat long-range adversary rockets during the boost phase of flight, according to a senior military official.
More than half of the Air Force's $204 million fiscal year 2022 budget request for the Advanced Battle Management System is focused on developing and fielding capability releases:
Air Force finalizing first ABMS capability release AQ strategy, shaping plans for next release
As the Air Force continues to focus its Advanced Battle Management System investment on capability development over experimentation, the service is beginning to craft a plan for the second capability release, which program officials say will aim to improve the command-and-control process for U.S. Northern Command's homeland defense mission.