Ayotte re sequestration (http://aol.it/K5YGSp): "It is the elephant in the room …. we cannot afford to kick this can to the lame-duck." SydneyFreedberg
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.A new approach to speed, scale and efficiency for the industrial base
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VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: Coping with China and Iran at the same time is stretching the Navy thin, and it will soon have to choose which theater to prioritize, warned Peter Daly, the recently retired admiral who now heads the prestigious US Naval Institute. The Obama administration’s new strategic guidance said the US would boost its…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: The House passed the annual defense spending bill this afternoon, 299 votes to 120, after two days of amendments and debate that hit election-year hot buttons hard but largely ignored substantive military issues or the looming threat of sequestration. “If January comes and the Budget Control Act remains in effect as currently written, everything…
By Colin ClarkVIRGINIA BEACH, VA: The Pentagon should brace for another $250 billion or more in cuts even if sequestration does not occur and must revolutionize how and what it buys, warned Hoss Cartwright, former vice-chairman of the Joint Staff, in a speech that savaged sacred cows from the Joint Strike Fighter to cybersecurity to the AirSea…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.NO Pgon sequestration planning, sez spokes. WH "proposes over $4T in balanced deficit reduction" which Hill could adopt to avoid cuts. @colinclarkaol
By Colin ClarkCAPITOL HILL: The vice-chiefs of the Army and Marine Corps warned legislators today that sequestration would force the military and the nation to break enlistment contracts with up to 225,000 troops who would have to be precipitately discharged to save money. “We would absolutely not be able to keep faith with our people,” said Gen.…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: While much of the defense press was focused yesterday on the HASC markup and the SASC hearing about the F-35, my colleague at DoDBuzz spotted a good story about sequestration. Here’s the core of Phil Ewing’s story: Boeing CEO Jim McNerney warned Tuesday that the threat of next year’s automatic, across-the-board budget growth reductions…
By Colin Clark
B-21, hypersonics and more: How digital development is driving industry innovation
Technological advancements are key to keeping pace with customer demands and evolving threat landscapes.
31 military & vets’ groups of Military Coalition (http://bit.ly/JKN4Ci) write Congress saying "stop sequestration" – http://1.usa.gov/JKMsfV SydneyFreedberg
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.CAPITOL HILL: After you count up all the cuts and additions in the House Armed Services Committee’s mark-up of the Pentagon budget, the bill appears to authorize $554 billion for national defense (budget function 050). At a time when the Pentagon faces the prospect of mandatory spending cuts of another $53 billion if sequestration happens…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Everyone’s scared of sequestration. But the US Navy and its shipbuilders are particularly upset by the prospect, because both the large-scale nature of naval construction and a historic quirk of the appropriations process leave warships particularly vulnerable. That’s why the Navy League of the United States, one of the nation’s oldest and most influential advocacy…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: It may be because Congress is out of town. Or it may be that few in the defense enterprise have any answers to the looming automatic cuts of $500 billion that will come due on Jan. 3, 2013. I vote for the latter. But whatever the reasons, a panel of éminences grises sat down…
By Colin ClarkBuck McKeon wants his $450 billion back. The Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee doesn’t just want to avoid sequestration, which would automatically cut $500 billion from Defense spending over the next decade if Congress can’t get its fiscal act together. McKeon (R-Calif.) wants to roll back the $450 billion in cuts that the…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.CAPITOL HILL: Even though Global Hawk is built in his district, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon told me today that he would not personally push to save the Block 30s from oblivion. “I will not be involved in trying to force something just because it’s best for my district,” McKeon said today…
By Colin Clark
Sequestration Is More Likely Than You Think
Sequestration: it’s a term only Washington could love. Behind the bland euphemism lie dramatic cuts to the U.S. military, shipbuilding and aerospace manufacturing jobs, and in communities across America. Washington politicians insist a half trillion in defense cuts — and the attendant degradation to our national security — is a reasoned belt tightening. In reality,…
By Mackenzie Eaglen