No, The Pentagon Did NOT Waste $28 Billion

No, The Pentagon Did NOT Waste $28 Billion
No, The Pentagon Did NOT Waste $28 Billion

One of our primary goals here at Breaking Defense is to try and avoid the madness of the daily news cycle and tell our readers what is really happening, as best as any human can tell at any time. The following explanation by two experienced defense budget experts of what really happened to $28 billion discussed in a…

Army Awards Northrop $289M For IBCS Missile Defense Network

Army Awards Northrop $289M For IBCS Missile Defense Network
Army Awards Northrop $289M For IBCS Missile Defense Network

Chief of Staff Mark Milley declared air and missile defense the Army’s No. 5 priority — one of the Big Six which the service is pushing to accelerate, if necessary at the expense of everything else in their budget.

Disaster Averted – For Now: The Pentagon In 2018

Disaster Averted – For Now: The Pentagon In 2018
Disaster Averted – For Now: The Pentagon In 2018

The Trump Administration managed to avoid starting wars or crippling NATO in fiscal year 2018, writes CSIS scholar Kathleen Hicks in this op-ed, but as we stagger into 2019, the fates of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, his National Defense Strategy, and the Pentagon budget remain alarmingly uncertain. We continue our partnership with DC’s leading defense…

Navy Looks Outside Budget To Help Build New Boomers

Navy Looks Outside Budget To Help Build New Boomers
Navy Looks Outside Budget To Help Build New Boomers

The Navy is moving ahead with its Ohio replacement submarines, and is using a little-noticed budgetary gimmick to pay for some of it.

Rep. Gabbard Pushes For Heftier Hawaiian Missile Defenses

Rep. Gabbard Pushes For Heftier Hawaiian Missile Defenses
Rep. Gabbard Pushes For Heftier Hawaiian Missile Defenses

Pentagon planners aren’t only worried about North Korean ICBMs, but Chinese hypersonics and medium-range missiles. That means, according to analysts, that an array of distributed systems are needed to meet a wide range of potential threats.

Hull Watch: 355 Ship Navy Might Take Until 2052, Navy Official Concedes

Hull Watch: 355 Ship Navy Might Take Until 2052, Navy Official Concedes
Hull Watch: 355 Ship Navy Might Take Until 2052, Navy Official Concedes

The Navy is going wobbly on its 355 ship fleet, but Capitol Hill doesn’t want to hear it.

Coast Guard Fears Two-Year Budget Boost Just A Blip: Adm. Zukunft

Coast Guard Fears Two-Year Budget Boost Just A Blip: Adm. Zukunft
Coast Guard Fears Two-Year Budget Boost Just A Blip: Adm. Zukunft

Adm. Zukunft says he doesn’t want to return to the old culture of “martyrdom” when the service prided itself on doing more with less even as it ran its equipment and people into the ground.

Crucial Polish Missile Defense Site Delayed Two Years: MDA

Crucial Polish Missile Defense Site Delayed Two Years: MDA
Crucial Polish Missile Defense Site Delayed Two Years: MDA

With the Pentagon and White House increasingly worried about ballistic missile threats from “rogue” states and peer competitors, the Polish site is increasingly critical.

Wittman, Courtney Question Omnibus Ship Numbers, Funding

Wittman, Courtney Question Omnibus Ship Numbers, Funding
Wittman, Courtney Question Omnibus Ship Numbers, Funding

Wait — doesn’t this omnibus fund 14 new ships for the Navy, compared to 13 in the National Defense Authorization Act and just eight in President Trump’s request? Yes, but not all ships are created equal, Wittman said.

House Approps Chair Promises Pentagon ‘Flexibility’ On O&M Funds

House Approps Chair Promises Pentagon ‘Flexibility’ On O&M Funds
House Approps Chair Promises Pentagon ‘Flexibility’ On O&M Funds

Legislators will probably loosen some rules on federal spending to help the Pentagon cope with Congress’s failure to pass funding bills until six months into the fiscal year. Budget dysfunction has gotten so bad it’s forcing even the famously strict appropriations committees to loosen the reins after years of resistance.

Military Force Structure: Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs

Military Force Structure: Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs
Military Force Structure: Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs, Trade-Offs

Mark Cancian, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, knows budgets. He used to help build the defense budget at the Office of Management and Budget, the largely unheralded center of federal fiscal power. So when he picks apart the budget deal Congress recently approved (or any other one) you should pay attention. He’s doing…

AFSOC Adds Artificial Intelligence To Armory; Still Eyes Lasers

AFSOC Adds Artificial Intelligence To Armory; Still Eyes Lasers
AFSOC Adds Artificial Intelligence To Armory; Still Eyes Lasers

AFA ORLANDO: Air Force Special Operations Command doesn’t speak much in public, for obvious reasons. The commander pretty much appears once a year here to speak with reporters, and for the last three years, mounting lasers on AC-130 gunships  has been a top topic. The former AFSOC commander, Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, first announced the…

Army Hopes For $6.8B From FY18 Budget Deal: 70% For Modernization

Army Hopes For $6.8B From FY18 Budget Deal: 70% For Modernization
Army Hopes For $6.8B From FY18 Budget Deal: 70% For Modernization

UPDATED: Adds SecArmy Esper Roundtable PENTAGON: The figures aren’t final, but the Army hopes to get about $6.8 billion in additional funding for fiscal year 2018 thanks to the recently concluded budget deal, Army Secretary Mark Esper said this morning. The service’s new plan would start delivering a Next Generation Squad Weapon to the infantry…

SecAF: Don’t Expect Large Budget Increases After 2019; $2.4B Set For Light Attack

SecAF: Don’t Expect Large Budget Increases After 2019; $2.4B Set For Light Attack
SecAF: Don’t Expect Large Budget Increases After 2019; $2.4B Set For Light Attack

The Air Force placed a $2.4 billion placeholder in the 2019 budget to buy Light Attack Aircraft over the next five years, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told reporters this morning.