The $883.7 billion bill makes several major changes to President Joe Biden's FY25 budget request, including a more narrow approach to transferring Air National Guard units into the Space Force. But budgetary matters will ultimately be decided by congressional appropriators.
The new "Fire-Control On Orbit-Support-To-The-War Fighter (FOO Fighter or F2)" program "will accelerate the ability to provide new fire control options for the tactical users," an SDA spokesperson told Breaking Defense. But how does it play with MDA programs?
The network transport architecture for NGC2 could be a hybrid approach that combines high assurance communications with 5G, WiFi, and multi-orbit satellites.
In addition, the subcommittee's markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would add 800 Guardians to the Space Force's active duty end-strength, as requested by the service — including establishing a dedicated Space Force legislative liaison.
The Space Force's newest operational unit, Delta 15 stood up in March and that supports Space Command's "protect and defend" mission, will be based at Schriever SFB in Colorado Springs.
"I am concerned about the transition of HBTSS from the Missile Defense Agency to the Space Development Agency. The apparent shift in strategy to deploy this capability does not reflect the urgency of the hypersonic threats we face," Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., chairman of the House Armed Service's strategic forces subcommittee, told Breaking Defense.
If contractors are put on the Contractor Responsibility Watch List for failure to meet cost and schedule performance goals, the Space Force has "the ability at that point not to award them any new contracts."
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
"Industry has told us that they they think they can go faster, and we're hopeful that we can accelerate the program," said Laura DeSimone, Missile Defense Agency executive director.
Pentagon acquisition of space systems needs to be "faster and leaner," stressed Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who is expected to chair the House strategic forces subcommittee next year.
A draft version of a DoD inspector general report, obtained by Breaking Defense, said an Alabama HQ was justified, even after top military officials made a last-minute push for Colorado Springs.
The findings of both a GAO and Pentagon IG review of the Defense Department's decision to locate SPACECOM's headquarters in Alabama are expected to be made public within days.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
"My general view is that this president or any president deserve to have multiple options to deal with national security situations," Milley said. "And my advice is listened to. And I have an opportunity to express my voice on a continuous basis many, many times.”
“If this program continues to fail ... we may need to invest in other more affordable programs, and backfill an operational shortfall of potentially over 800 tactical fighters,” said Rep. Donald Norcross, chair of the HASC tactical air and land forces subcommittee.
The HASC readiness subcommittee also wants to create a comprehensive quadrennial review of what it’ll really take to supply and sustain the global force.
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said the Space Command basing decision is being reopened, with a choice delayed until the end of the year -- at the earliest.