Most observers had expected an increase in the Navy’s shipbuilding accounts with this budget, especially after the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, said that, even as an Army general, he would support budget increases for the Navy and Air Force in light of the Chinese threat. But this budget decommissions 12 ships and buys relatively few replacements.
By Mark CancianA new approach to speed, scale and efficiency for the industrial base
Radars, EW, EO/IR, space imagery, and microelectronics are brought under one roof for a streamlined approach to common people and factories.
“Our budget accounts for ‘over the horizon’ requirements — it creates some space there as we determine what that will look like,” DepSec Kathleen Hicks said.
By Theresa Hitchens
If industry can “turn this into a human transport mechanism — which some of the companies are talking about doing — sure the DoD would be interested in exploring options for that, just as we do with the airlines, and the shipping industries today,”AFRL’s Program Manager Greg Spanjers said.
By Theresa Hitchens
The largest of the four categories is called “Develop A Warfighter Punch” and includes $279 million for classified programs.
By Theresa Hitchens
“From the DoD’s perspective, they’re highly dependent on [Asia] for fabrication and packaging [of chips],” Hudson Institute’s Bryan Clark tells Breaking Defense. This has led to DoD calls to address a “fragile and threatened” chip supply chain.
By Brad D. Williams
The B-21 program will not undertake traditional “block upgrades” to beef up future performance, says Air Force Global Strike Command head Gen. Timothy Ray. Instead, it will incrementally add new capabilities as they become available.
By Theresa Hitchens
Enterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
“There’s a perception out there that Lockheed’s going to take everything, and nobody’s gonna be able to get in to support of the F-35,” said Mike Miles of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 logistics unit about the firm’s PBL proposal. “That’s not the case.”
By Theresa Hitchens
Some $2.7 billion goes to network upgrades, more than any other Army priority area, according to acting acquisition chief Doug Bush.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The single biggest increase in proposed year-over-year cyber funding appears to be for cryptology, and the budget includes a new line item for zero-trust architectures.
By Brad D. Williams
The funds will support potential new space missions such as re-fueling satellites on orbit.
By Theresa Hitchens The budget requests funding for four new teams for the Cyber Mission Force. Those teams will support CYBERCOM operations and provide cyber support for space operations.
By Brad D. Williams
Requesting “eight ships a year is not going to get to 355,” the Navy’s top budget official, Rear Adm. John Gumbleton, said. “All things being equal, if you have a 300-ship Navy and a 30-year lifespan you have to recapitalize it…so eight is not going to do it.”
By Paul McLeary
“Critically, we reallocate resources to fund research and development in advanced technologies such as micro-electronics. This will provide the foundation for fielding a full range of capabilities, such as hypersonic missiles, artificial intelligence, and 5G,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said.
By Paul McLeary
Bill Greenwalt argues the US needs to increase its current level of defense spending by 3% to 5% a year in real terms, because China, our principal geostrategic competitor, is already outspending us on defense and time is not on our side. Greenwalt comes to this conclusion by claiming that in estimating the size of…
By Lawrence Korb