DoD Comptroller Mike McCord additionally predicted that the current continuing resolution will extend until March, as the Republican Party looks to craft a “two percent better deal” once it controls Congress and the presidency come January.
By Michael MarrowThe Weekly Break Out web news show
Coming in 2025! The Washington Monument is an iconic part of Washington. There’s something else monumental coming to defense in DC in 2025.
To help fight inflation, the Pentagon was given $1.05 billion to disperse to industry. Now, documents reviewed by Breaking Defense and interviews with key officials reveal how and why certain programs won out.
By Michael Marrow and Valerie Insinna
Another Ukraine supplemental ‘likely’ needed if war continues on current trajectory: DoD Comptroller
“I have been sort of bludgeoned into being desensitized to [CRs] that go all the way to December in situations like this,” Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord said. “I would love to see it only go… ‘til right after the election. But I think that would surprise me if it didn’t go straight to December.”
By Michael Marrow and Aaron Mehta
With the war in Ukraine raging, missile and other munition production seems like a sure bet. But the Pentagon knows industry is wary of getting burned should attitudes change and is trying to offer novel reassurances.
By Ashley Roque The situation in Ukraine is providing a “teachable moment” for why it matters that the Defense Department accomplish a clean audit that establishes it has an accurate count of everything its purchased.
By Valerie Insinna
Congressional appropriators finally reached a deal after almost six months of continuing resolutions.
By Andrew Eversden
A wild card for the months ahead is the trajectory of the war in Ukraine, as the Defense Department may need additional money for FY22 and FY23 if Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin orders further troop deployments to Eastern Europe.
By Valerie Insinna
Top defense insights from 2024
A curated look at standout opinions and analysis covering topics like uncrewed systems, NATO partnerships, US-Saudi defense dynamics, and evolving warfare strategies, spotlighting key issues shaping the global defense landscape.
A goal of a 2027 clean audit across the military seems far off, as most departments, including major branches, still have work to do.
By Aaron Mehta
The only real pushback either nominee faced was McCord’s previous call for the defense budget to grow by 3-5% annually, a number the 2022 Biden defense budget won’t reach.
By Paul McLeary
WASHINGTON: Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh made clear today that, while his service will make its arguments for modernization programs such as the JSTARS replacement, F-35 and Long Range Strike Bomber, the Defense Secretary and the combatant commanders will make the final decisions. The military’s latest and highest profile program, the Long Range Strike…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: With the Pentagon’s big budget plan for 2017-2021 less than three weeks from completion, Defense Department comptroller Mike McCord promised significant slowdowns in “some” weapons programs, specifically including the Long-Range Strike Bomber. McCord’s slides pegged the total 2017 defense request at $584 billion ($525 in the base budget and $59 in overseas contingency operations…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
FALLS CHURCH: “I’m going to frame this discussion around the ‘three nots,’” assistant secretary of Defense Katrina McFarland said this morning. “Technological superiority is not assured, R&D is not a variable cost, and time is not recoverable.” “Sequestration for us is horrendous,” she told TechAmerica’s annual conference here. “Funding for the accounts that exercise our…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
CAPITOL HILL: It was a bad day to be Bob Work. At his first public hearing before Congress as Deputy Secretary of Defense, Work received a bipartisan battering from a House Armed Services Committee deeply dissatisfied with the administration’s $58.6 billion request for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. At issue was not the $53.7 billion…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
