Here’s what’s at risk if the Pentagon’s $350B reconciliation gambit fails
Congress has teed up a second reconciliation bill with immigration enforcement money, but future reconciliation funds for defense remain nebulous.
How the ‘heartbreaking’ lack of a confirmed leader is impacting CYBERCOM and NSA
"It's indefensible and it shows just a total disregard by the administration and the secretary of defense for this mission area,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-NE, told Breaking Defense.
Satellites at the center: Inside the Pentagon’s next-gen space architecture
From emerging data networks to missile tracking and cyber resilience, Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together essential reporting on the evolving role of satellites in national security.
Boeing Defense reports ‘immaterial’ financial impact in Q3 from machinist strike
Despite good performance during the quarter, Boeing announced a new $149 million loss on the KC-46 tanker due to ripple effects on the commercial 777X jet program.
Who’s Who in Defense: Don Bacon, Chairman, House Armed Services Subcommittee (HASC) on Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems
Established in 2021, the HASC subcommittee oversees an array of new technologies and related strategies that inform modern warfare, including both offensive and defensive cyber-related areas.
Amid lawmaker concerns, CYBERCOM head says SOCOM-like model is best way forward
Reps. Don Bacon and Richard McCormick shared concerns over the SOCOM-like model in today's hearing.
Rep. Bacon: Enough talking about defense innovation. It’s time to make choices and move out.
In an exclusive op-ed, Rep. Don Bacon says Congress, industry and the executive branch need to stop hiding behind the word "innovation" and start actually producing systems.
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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.
Here’s how Congress’s biggest defense advocates fared in the 2024 election
Key members of the defense committees in both the House and Senate are locked in races that are still undecided.
Electronic Warfare: Better, But Still Not Good Enough
The US military is rebuilding its ability to protect its radios, sensors and radars while jamming those of its adversaries. But we're still probably second or third in the world.
Rep. Bacon Offers Electronic Warfare Bill: ‘We’re Behind’
"We had the dominant electronic warfare capability in the world and we let it atrophy. Now we’re behind," general turned congressman Don Bacon told me. "I want us to be dominant again. I don’t want us to be second or third best after Russia and China."
Big SOCOM Budget Boost Goes To People, AI — & More
WASHINGTON: The generals and admirals in charge of equipping and fielding the nation’s special operations forces are about to get some help in the form of an 11 percent budget increase. Just as the Trump administration has pledged to pump billions more into the defense budget, the Special Operations Command will also add about 1,700 […]
HASC EW Expert Bacon: US ‘Not Prepared’ For Electronic Warfare Vs. Russia, China
WASHINGTON: The US military is “not prepared” to conduct radio and radar jamming against high-end adversaries, a veteran electronic warfare officer now in Congress says. We have made major progress jamming terrorist communications in Afghanistan and Iraq, says Rep. Don Bacon, a retired one-star general who recently visited both countries. But even against such low-tech foes, […]
Spectrum (EW) Should Be A Warfighting Domain: Rep. Bacon
WASHINGTON: After two decades of decline, American electronic warfare is recovering, but not fast enough, says general-turned-congressman Rep. Don Bacon. What the military needs to do, Bacon said is to elevate the electromagnetic spectrum to an official domain of warfare — alongside land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace — and appoint general officers as EW […]