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This Friday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on a U.S.-Japan military technology agreement, the Marine Corps' need for the Light Amphibious Warship and more.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japan’s Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu have signed a bilateral Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Memorandum of Understanding and a Security of Supply Agreement; the former is legally binding, the latter is not:

U.S., Japan mark 'consequential moment' with agreements to increase tech cooperation

The United States and Japan -- two global technology innovation powerhouses -- are teaming up to collaborate on high-power microwaves, autonomous systems and counter-hypersonic weapons, inking new agreements to expand military research and development while advancing plans for potential collaboration on a new Aegis guided-missile interceptor.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Roger Turner, the director of operations division plans, policies and operations, spoke this week at the Surface Navy Association's National Symposium:

LAW procurement critical to closing capability gap, Marine Corps official says

The Marine Corps' largest capability gap is the absence of the Light Amphibious Warship, according to a senior service official, who said closing this gap depends upon industry's ability to expediently deliver a "sufficient quantity" of the vessels.

More Marine Corps-related news:

Marines to base new regiment with robotically controlled ship-killing vehicles in Japan

The Defense Department plans to bolster the U.S. military presence in the Pacific region by converting a unit based in Japan to a Marine Littoral Regiment, a new formation designed to fight its way onto islands and maritime choke points, deploy its own long-range strike capabilities and create anti-access challenges for Chinese forces.

. . . Plus continuing coverage of the SNA Symposium:

Frustrated with shipyard delays, Navy officials talk tough on industry

Reducing shipyard delays is a top priority for the Navy, according to the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, who expressed deep dissatisfaction today with the performance of the defense industrial base.

5th Fleet commander details 'digital ocean' concept after TF-59 reaches FOC

Over a year after its inception, the Navy's Mideast-based unmanned task force has reached full operational capability and U.S. 5th Fleet aims to expand its presence to create a "digital ocean" in the region as threats from Iran and other malign actors remain "very real."

After three years of effort to flesh out the Space Force, its second and newest chief of space operations said the service is now sufficiently mature to tackle the challenges ahead of it.

“We're not standing up the Space Force anymore, although there’s probably still some work,” Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, who took the reins of the service Nov. 2, said during a video interview with the Space Force Association Jan. 12. “We’re here. Now it’s time to deliver, to build capabilities, start producing on some of the promises that we’ve laid out,” he added.

The Space Force has a sizeable agenda for 2023. The Space Development Agency is set to begin launching Tranche 0 missile tracking and data transport satellites in March, advancing critical initiatives for modernized sensing capabilities and an infrastructure that can support more robust data transfer. The service is also gearing up to field its long-delayed, modernized GPS ground segment and pursue new acquisitions for key programs like space launches.

“My priorities are not going to surprise you, because they're really a continuation of all the work that's been done,” Saltzman said when asked about his top issues for the service going forward.

“No. 1 is we are going to have resilient, ready combat credible forces,” the general said. Noting “technology is not enough,” the service will need to invest in proper training and testing so that the force can deter adversaries, he added.

Saltzman described his “second line of effort” as “amplifying the Guardian spirit,” referencing enthusiasm for joining the Space Force and the need to “empower” service members to pursue new ideas. “That means we’ve got to put structures in place to take care of them,” he observed.

Saltzman listed partnerships as his third priority, underscoring the need to strengthen ties with other military services and nations. “It's got to be a deep, rich partnership based on mutual trust, mutual benefit. Everybody's got to get something out of it. This is not transactional,” he said.

Pointing to the Space Force having more applicants than it can accommodate, Saltzman said the service will need to be selective with the Guardians it brings on, but that the bigger challenge will be getting them to stay in.

“The hard part is retaining,” the general said.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the former chairman and current ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said today that getting a final fiscal year 2024 appropriations package in place is likely to be a challenge, given the new Republican majority in the House that is focused on capping spending.

“The legislative hostage-takers don't seem to care if the federal government functions,” he said today at the Brookings Institution.

“So, on the debt ceiling and on the appropriations bills, they have shown a willingness to take hostages and a certain enthusiasm for executing those hostages whether necessary or not. So, that's going to be a challenge.”

House Republicans are presently debating how they would cap discretionary spending at FY-22 levels, though there is confusion about whether they would seek to slash the defense budget.

Meanwhile, some House Republicans are expected to push to increase the $858 billion defense budget by 3% to 5% above the rate of inflation.

Smith said he thinks there will not be a $1 trillion defense budget in FY-24.

“I think it's highly unlikely we're going to be looking at a $1 trillion defense budget this year,” he said. “I mean, the biggest challenge we have in that regard is just to have a budget.”

Smith said he ultimately supported an $858 billion defense topline for FY-23 even though he thought the Pentagon could get by with less because he didn’t want to hold up the National Defense Authorization Act, which has been passed into law every year for more than six decades.

“I believe in democracy more than I believe in my own opinion,” he said. “You don't have to burn the house down just because they didn't give you what you want.”

Todd Harrison, managing director of Metrea Strategic Insights and previously an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently told Inside Defense in an email that he see sees “a lot of similarities” between the political climate of 2023 and 2011 when it comes to the debate over spending cuts.

“While I don't think we will end up with something exactly like the Budget Control Act and sequestration, I am increasingly seeing signs that we are headed in the same general direction,” he said. “Twelve years ago, it was disagreements over how to reduce overall federal spending (not defense specifically) that led to both sides taking the defense budget hostage. It didn't work out well for defense then, and I don't see why this time around would be any different. One can only hope that enough people in Congress and the executive branch still have scar tissue from the BCA that they won't let things go in that direction again.”

Harrison pointed out that, at the time, DOD was able to skirt BCA spending caps by placing tens of billions of dollars annually in its now defunct Overseas Contingency Operations account.

“This time around there would be no easy way to get around the budget caps like the OCO loophole,” he said.

This Wednesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on whether House Republicans would stomach defense spending cuts, coverage of the Surface Navy Association's annual conference and more.

Now that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is in place, information is beginning to emerge concerning what kind of deals he had to strike and what sort of promises he had to make to win a historically contentious speaker's election:

GOP's ascension to House majority drives confusion over possible defense cuts

Depending on which senior House Republican you ask, defense spending cuts are either "on the table" or "have not been discussed."

Navy 5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper spoke this week at the Surface Navy Association's annual symposium:

5th Fleet commander details 'digital ocean' concept after TF-59 reaches FOC

Over a year after its inception, the Navy's Mideast-based unmanned task force has reached full operational capability and U.S. 5th Fleet aims to expand its presence to create a "digital ocean" in the region as threats from Iran and other malign actors remain "very real."

More from SNA:

Navy targets 75 mission-capable ships as readiness 'north star'

Working to improve surface force readiness, the Navy has set a goal of keeping 75 ships designated as "mission capable" or "full mission capable" -- a north star target that will underpin all future surface force efforts, according to service leaders.

In a new twist, the Missile Defense Agency has decided not to specify the number of interceptors in the Ground-based Midcourse Defense fleet:

DOD increases size of GMD fleet; total number of operational GBIs no longer public

The Defense Department has added a small buffer to its limited inventory of intercontinental ballistic missile-killing interceptors, growing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program by two guided missiles after harvesting enough spare parts to assemble a pair of the most modern variants of the homeland defense interceptor.

Our colleagues at Inside Cybersecurity have the latest on the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program:

Pentagon plans to formally propose changes to CMMC program ahead of official launch

Full implementation of the Pentagon's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program for defense contractors will likely shift to 2024 based on revised estimates from the Defense Department in the fall 2022 unified agenda, which indicates two proposed rules are expected for release in the coming months.

As soon as next week, about 100 Ukrainian troops will begin training at Ft. Sill, OK, to use the Patriot air defense system, which is expected to take several months, according to the Pentagon.

The move follows a U.S. announcement in December to send one Patriot battery to Ukraine.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said efforts will be made to accelerate the training but stressed it would not be shortchanged.

“These instructors will be the same instructors that already conduct training for U.S., allied and partner forces that go through Ft. Sill,” he said. “Once the training is complete, then the Patriot will be delivered so that then they can employ it. We'll continue to work as quickly as we can.”

Ryder said the training, first reported by the Washington Post, will cover not only the operation but also the maintenance of the Patriot system.

“If I give you a piece of equipment, I’m simply giving you a piece of equipment,” he said. “But if I give you the equipment and I give you the training, I now give you a capability.”

The Pentagon last week announced its largest aid package to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion last February, a $2.85 billion package that included 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, anti-tank missiles and additional ammunition.

Ryder said the United States and Ukraine would “keep the dialog open” in terms of future training for Ukrainians on U.S. soil.

“The training school for U.S. and allied forces on Patriots is at Ft. Sill already,” he said. “So, they’ll be falling in on an existing capability in order to expedite the training and, again, get the system back into Ukraine so that they can use it to defend themselves.”

The Defense Information Systems Agency is asking for industry input on writing a "strategic roadmap" for next-generation electromagnetic spectrum development.

The Defense Department is developing the EMS roadmap, according to a Jan. 4 request for information. The Senate Armed Services Committee asked for an EMS plan in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last summer and requested it again in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

Used for communications, radar and navigation, EMS will be an enabler in the Pentagon's Joint All-Domain Command and Control effort.

“The modern electromagnetic operating environment is increasingly congested, contested and constrained. This jeopardizes the U.S. military’s ability to sense, command, control, communicate, test, train, protect and project force effectively. Without the capabilities to assert spectrum superiority, the nation’s economic and national security will be exposed to undue and significant risk,” the RFI states.

The DOD is interested in “leap-ahead” spectrum-based technologies from industry that will benefit military operations as well as the entire EMS ecosystem, according to the department.

DISA outlined five goals for the DOD to focus on: “develop superior spectrum capabilities; evolve to an agile and fully integrated spectrum infrastructure; pursue total force readiness in the spectrum; secure enduring partnerships for spectrum advantage; and establish effective spectrum governance.”

The announcement added that the EMS planning process must consider the “rapid pace of emerging threats within the EMS from our near-peer adversaries including China and Russia.”

Responses from industry are due Feb. 10.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) has been named chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, marking the first time a member of Congress from Alabama will helm the panel, according to a statement from his office.

Rogers' advancement to the chair follows two years he spent as the committee’s ranking member when Democrats held the House majority.

“I am honored to have been selected by my House Republican colleagues to serve as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee,” he said in a statement. “Our nation faces unprecedented threats from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. In order to deter these threats and remain the most feared force in the world we must ensure that our military focuses on lethality and capability. Over the next two years, the House Armed Services Committee will provide our warfighters with the resources and weapons they need to deter and, if necessary, defeat any adversary anywhere in the world.”

Rogers also said he plans to target “misguided” Biden administration policies that serve a “social agenda.”

“Those in charge of these initiatives will come before the committee to explain how they will protect our national security,” he said. “We will leave no stone unturned in holding the Biden administration accountable.”

Meanwhile, Rogers statement comes after a contentious election for House speaker in which he had to be physically restrained after lunging toward Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Rogers later apologized.

However, the speaker’s election, which Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) ultimately won by cutting various deals with a small number of Republican holdouts, has led to concerns that the GOP will cut defense spending in the coming year.

Rogers and Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), who is expected to chair the House Appropriations Committee, have said they will not stand for any cuts to national security spending.