While the Pentagon waits for Congress to approve its Fiscal Year 2020 policy and priorities bill, it appears negotiators seeking to iron out differences between the Senate and House versions of the National Defense Authorization Act are stuck on whether to authorize military funding for border barrier construction.
Thursday morning Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a statement detailing the status of a conference agreement between the two...
NASA Photo
CAPITOL HILL – With 11 days to go until Fiscal Year 2019 ends, lawmakers from the House and Senate held their first armed services conference committee meeting to iron out differences between each chamber’s version of next year’s National Defense Authorization Act.
When the fiscal year ends, so does funding. To avoid a government shutdown, the House Thursday afternoon passed a continuing resolution, a short-term spending bill called authorizing defense spending to continue in FY 2020...
https://news.usni.org/2019/09/19/defense-committee-start-conference-on-fy20-authorization-bill
F-35A Lightning II aircraft receive aerial refuelings from a Travis KC-10 Extender July 13, 2016 on the flight from England to the United States. US Air Force photo.
THE PENTAGON – Turkey is being excised from the F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter program, and the U.S. will pay an estimated $500 to 600 million to retool the program in the aftermath, the Defense Department’s acquisition chief told reporters on Wednesday.
Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment,...
A Member of the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team prepares to launch Capt. Andrew “Dojo” Olson, F-35 pilot, during the Bagotville International Air Show in Quebec, Canada on June 22, 2019. US Air Force Photo
THE PENTAGON – The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program’s civilian and military management are in the midst of a changeover just as government officials from the U.S. and partner countries are considering ejecting Turkey from involvement in the aircraft’s manufacture and...
Freedom-class LCS St. Louis (LCS-19), left, in Marinette, Wisc., on Dec. 15, 2018, as Billings (LCS-15) is under construction and preparing for commissioning. US Navy Photo
The Navy is ready to sunset littoral combat ship production and three of four congressional defense committees appear happy to oblige through restrictive policies and funding authorizations.
Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) members included language prohibiting the use of funds to extend the LCS program except in a...
https://news.usni.org/2019/06/13/house-senate-defense-bills-tough-on-littoral-combat-ship-programs
The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN-727) arrives in Busan for a regularly scheduled port visit while conducting routine patrols throughout the Western Pacific. US Navy Photo
The House Armed Services Committee added several provisions to its annual defense authorization bill, but the among most contentious was if the Pentagon should develop a low-yield nuclear weapon to deploy on nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
Support for and arguments against the strategic...
An unarmed Trident II D5 missile launches from the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN-739) off the coast of California. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee members on both sides of the aisle have different defense spending priorities but there’s not much daylight between Republicans and Democrats on the final topline spending number.
The HASC marked the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act with $632.9 billion in DoD base spending,...
An F-35C Lightning II assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 is positioned on the bow catapults of the Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) March 17, 2018, in the Atlantic Ocean. US Navy photo
Currently, the Navy does not have an aircraft carrier — either Ford-class or Nimitz-class — that can support the service’s most advanced fighters for a full deployment, service officials told USNI News on Thursday.
Earlier this week, lawmakers expressed their frustration with...
https://news.usni.org/2019/06/06/nimitz-and-ford-carriers-need-upgrades-to-deploy-with-f-35cs
The guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103) departs Naval Station Norfolk for a scheduled deployment. US Navy Photo
Pushing the military to become more energy efficient is an emerging theme of the House Armed Services Committee Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. For the Navy, this means taking a second look at installing hybrid electric drive systems on Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.
Wednesday morning, the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness...
A deck view, looking toward the bow, of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine OHIO (SSGN-726) with its missile tubes opened during precommissioning activities.
The question of whether to authorize the Navy to deploy ballistic submarines with low-yield nuclear warheads caused a House Armed Services subcommittee to approve its Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorize Act mark on a rare party-line vote.
The Democratic majority on the strategic forces subcommittee included language in...
https://news.usni.org/2019/06/04/support-for-low-yield-nukes-on-subs-splits-along-party-lines