Congress
Sen. Jack Reed told reporters that should the bill fail, he would look to busting the price cap on next year’s defense authorization legislation.
By Valerie InsinnaAir Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter noted potential troubles ahead for the KC-46A and said T-7A production could start “a little later” than previously anticipated, but he remained confident about the way forward for the two aircraft.
By Michael MarrowThe “Milestone C” decision is a crucial moment signifying the department’s confidence in the performance of the F-35 and maturity of Lockheed Martin’s production system, though the plane has been in service for years.
By Valerie Insinna“Ukraine is not running out of courage and tenacity: They’re running out of ammunition, and we’re running out of time to help them,” said CIA director William Burns.
By Ashley Roque and Valerie InsinnaNavy officials have stressed during the budget rollout many ‘hard decisions’ were made due to the defense spending caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.
By Justin Katz“I share your commitment to maintaining the public’s trust in the Department of Defense,” Douglas Schmidt, the new director of operational test and evaluation, said in the letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
By Valerie Insinna“There was a debate which … about so-called ‘reveal, conceal’ [and] how much detail we want to put out,” said Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller Mike McCord. “We’re sort of leaning on the side of not disclosing the details…”
By Ashley RoqueBreaking Defense has you covered for all the news of the Pentagon’s fiscal 2025 budget rollout, and this handy landing page of our stories will get you where you need to go.
By Aaron MehtaNavy brass and lawmakers go back-and-forth every year about early ship retirements. This year looks like it will be no different.
By Justin Katz“We’re very, very fixated on being competitive with the pacing challenge [of China],” said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. “I think the budget that we’ve submitted moves us forward — not quite as fast as we would like to, but it moves us forward in the right direction while maintaining current capabilities that are essential to the nation.”
By Michael MarrowThe Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) platform joins the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) on the budget cutting room floor for America’s largest service.
By Ashley Roque“We kind of depend on having [that] ‘24 bill finish and finish in a way that looks a lot like what we asked for. Otherwise, we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board on a couple of fronts,” said a senior defense official.
By Ashley Roque“On an annual basis, we have a CR, half the year’s gone,” the undersecretary for Research & Engineering said. “Our adversary doesn’t have the same constraints.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.