The INSIDER daily digest -- June 5, 2025

This Thursday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the termination of a space-based missile defense industry event, plus senior Army and Air Force officials testifying on their respective services' fiscal year 2026 budget requests and more.

On June 3, the Missile Defense Agency terminated the Space-Based Interceptor (SBI) Industry Engagement event, originally planned for late April in Huntsville, AL:

MDA cancels Space-Based Interceptor industry event, halting Golden Dome momentum

The Pentagon has quietly canceled a long-anticipated industry engagement on space-based missile interceptors, dealing another setback to the Trump administration's push to rapidly launch the most ambitious element of its new national missile defense initiative, Golden Dome.

The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing this morning on the Air Force's fiscal year 2026 budget request:

Meink: Mods to Qatar-gifted Air Force One jet will cost 'less than $400 million'

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said today that modifying a Qatari jet to serve as Air Force One would likely cost "less than $400 million," despite some experts positing it could cost upwards of $1 billion.

Document: Air Force's FY-26 posture statement

The Defense Department and the services attempt to keep pace with changes in drone technology on the battlefield as seen in recently conflicts in Ukraine and Israel:

Joint counter-drone office conducts demonstration featuring contested electromagnetic environment

The Pentagon's Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office (JCO) conducted its latest demonstration in April, in which vendors brought counter-drone technologies that operated in contested electromagnetic environments, officials explained to reporters during a virtual roundtable this week.

Former DOD officials warn Ukraine's drone attack in Russia highlights U.S. vulnerabilities

Homeland defense is becoming a central front in future warfare, underscored by the success of Ukraine's recent drone strike, former defense officials said at an AI conference this week.

Senior Army leaders were on Capitol Hill this week testifying on the service's fiscal year 2026 budget request:

Army 20 years out from sufficient munitions capacity, Driscoll says

The Army would need at least two decades to reach sufficient surge capacity in its munitions industrial base under current conditions, according to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

Document: Army's FY-26 posture statement

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) said this week that the $20.8 billion in shipbuilding funding requested in the Defense Department's fiscal year 2026 budget would mark a substantial reduction compared to the previous year -- when Congress appropriated over $36 billion for shipbuilding -- without the addition of separate funding included in a pending budget reconciliation package:

Key House lawmaker worries shipbuilding is slipping through cracks in defense budget gambit

House lawmakers are not happy with the lack of line-item budget information provided by the Pentagon to date, especially when it comes to Navy shipbuilding accounts, where vessel procurement plans and funding levels face increased uncertainty, according to the ranking member on the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee.

GE Aerospace announced this week a formal teaming agreement with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to advance propulsion technologies for the next generation of affordable unmanned aerial systems and CCA-type aircraft:

GE Aerospace, Kratos expand partnership to produce engines for 'CCA-type' aircraft

Engine-maker GE Aerospace and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions are broadening their existing partnership to build advanced propulsion options for small, lower-cost unmanned aerial systems, according to a GE news release issued on Tuesday.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) this week released legislative text of the reconciliation bill's defense portion:

Wicker unveils $150B military cash injection but says defense is 'far from paid for'

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) today unveiled the GOP's bill to increase defense spending by $150 billion using budgetary reconciliation, calling the amount a "major opportunity," but said it is not adequate in relation to the Trump administration's flat fiscal year 2026 Pentagon budget request.

Document: House, Senate lawmakers' reconciliation bill