Munitions at risk? Inside the Pentagon’s $350B gamble
Congress has teed up a second reconciliation bill with immigration enforcement money, but future reconciliation funds for defense remain nebulous.
How does budget reconciliation work? Here’s everything you need to know.
Valerie Insinna outlines how Congress draws up a military spending plan for the year ahead.
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Winning the cognitive domain — A methodology built for democratic constraints
The challenge for Western democratic institutions is not a lack of capability — it is a structural one.
How Hegseth, Caine, and Hurst defended their budget strategy on the Hill
Valerie Insinna has the highlights from last week's House and Senate hearings on the budget.
US clears $8.6 billion arms sales to Middle East countries, ‘waiving’ congressional review
The possible deals include three countries buying APKWS, and Qatar could be purchasing more Patriot interceptors.
No unfunded requirements in FY27, say some services, COCOMs
Overall, the Army, Navy and Air Force included about $3 billion in unfunded requests, all for military construction projects. US Southern Command included $229.9 million in its wishlist.
Reconciliation ‘floodgates’ about to open after slow start for contracts, Hegseth says
“Why do we suddenly have a two part budget where this committee and the Congress generally has oversight and input, to a process where a corner of the budget is essentially a slush fund?” asked Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, during a SASC hearing.
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Voyager is fortifying the U.S. Defense supply chain
Answering the Pentagon’s call to bolster defense industrial base.
Air Force seeks to scrap its E-11 BACN fleet
An Air Force spokesperson told Breaking Defense following the hearing that there are seven E-11s in the current fleet, and confirmed that the plan is to replace them with the emerging DAF (Department of the Air Force) Battle Network.
Pentagon leaders place $25 billion price tag on Operation Epic Fury
Members of the House Armed Services Committee also pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the recent firing of Army and Navy leaders.
Pentagon formally requests name change to War Department, setting up fight with Dems
The Defense Department stated in a legislative proposal that it will likely spend about $50 million in fiscal 2026 to get the ball rolling on a name change.
President Trump should secure America’s nuclear future by taking weapons out of DoE
America’s nuclear weapons arsenal is too central to national defense to be buried inside the Department of Energy, argues Franklin C. Miller and Frank A. Rose.
Pentagon’s Munitions Acceleration Council identifies 14 ‘critical’ weapons for 2027
“We're making them put skin in the game … and we expect them to meet the ramp rates that they agree to. And, if they don't, there'll be penalties for them,” said Jules “Jay” Hurst, who is performing the duties of the Pentagon comptroller.
FY27 budget request negates need for INDOPACOM spending wishlist: Commander
INDOPACOM Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo's comments come as the department begins detailing plans to spend $12 billion next year for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.
Pentagon officials broadly detail $55 billion drone plan under DAWG
The bulk of funding comes in the form of reconciliation, a bet the department also made for a proposed hike to its Office of Strategic Capital loan program.
Army asks lawmakers to back production halt to Paladin line
“If you look at the [fight] in Ukraine on either side, it's really hard to move out and get fires ready to go…. The Paladin is just incapable of it at speed," Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said today.