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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.

This Monday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the Space Force's Missile Track Custody program, upgrades to the Navy's Zumwalt-class destroyers and more.

Sensors developed by Boeing and Raytheon Technologies passed critical design reviews in November, though it wasn’t clear whether Space Systems Command would move forward with prototypes from both or push down to a single vendor:

SSC picks Boeing, Raytheon to move forward with Missile Track Custody prototypes

The Space Force has selected teams from Boeing's Millennium Space Systems and Raytheon Intelligence & Space to proceed with building prototypes for the service's Missile Track Custody program, according to a Space Systems Command official.

The Navy plans to outfit each of its three DDG-1000s with hypersonic strike missiles, removing the Advanced Gun System the service planned to field on the warship:

HII solidifies sole-source contract for hypersonic weapon install on Zumwalt

Shipbuilder and defense technology company HII has been awarded an advanced planning contract to upgrade the Navy’s stealth destroyer Zumwalt (DDG-1000), which will include adding long range hypersonic missiles to the ship class.

The FY-23 omnibus spending package includes $517.9 million for Hypersonic Defense, an increase of $292.5 million above the $225.4 million the Pentagon originally required this fiscal year:

MDA, armed with a $300M boost for GPI, set to accelerate development

The Missile Defense Agency is accelerating development of a counter-hypersonic weapon after Congress injected nearly $300 million for the Glide Phase Interceptor project in fiscal year 2023, raising development spending on the Hypersonic Defense program to more than half-a-billion dollars this year following a classified independent cost assessment completed for the GPI last fall.

Connecticut lawmakers are backing Sikorsky's protest of a billion-dollar contract awarded to Textron's Bell last month:

Connecticut lawmakers are supporting bid protest to FLRAA contract

Connecticut's congressional delegation is throwing its support behind Sikorsky and Boeing's protest of the Future Long Range-Assault Aircraft contract, awarded to Textron's Bell last month.

More Army helicopter news, in case you missed it on Friday:

Army anticipates possible production of up to 120 Black Hawks between 2028 and 2033

The Army is planning for the possibility of up to 120 additional UH-60M helicopters to be produced between 2028 and 2033, according to a follow-on production sources-sought notice posted on Friday.

Canada has agreed to buy a total of 88 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, the country’s government announced Jan. 9.

The deal is worth approximately $15 billion and aircraft deliveries are expected to begin in 2026, the government’s press release said. Canada’s Lightning II fleet is expected to be fully operational between 2032 and 2034.

"Canada is our friend and a close ally. Their decision to procure almost 90 jets underscores the value of the incredible F-35 Lightning II," F-35 Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt said in a Lockheed Martin press release.

Canada was an early investor in the F-35 program and previously announced plans to purchase the aircraft in 2010. Political opposition scuttled the original planned buy, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at one point saying the country did not need the fighter.

Trudeau’s government subsequently announced a competition to replace the country’s legacy F-18 aircraft in 2016 called the Future Fighter Capability Project, which narrowed the contest to Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen and Lockheed’s F-35 in December 2021. In March 2022, the Canadian government announced the Lightning II’s bid prevailed and that the country would enter into formal contract negotiations with Lockheed.

According to the Canadian government, the aircraft is expected to serve into the 2060s.