Unfunded US Shipbuilding * The Congressional Budget Office's report [PDF] on the the Navy's 2014-43 shipbuilding plan [PDF] notes that it is slightly less money-hungry than the previous year's 30-year plan, but the plan remains about "one-third higher than the funding...
US Budgeteers to Face Tough Calls * US Army Secretary John McHugh told attendees of the AUSA annual meeting that GCV and networking count among the service's priorities, but given the current budget trajectory, some programs will have to be delayed by 4 years or more...
DARPA, DTRA Cranking Again * The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded a $965K contract to Lockheed Martin for a trade study covering "Phase 0" of the High Speed Strike Weapon (HSSW). Raytheon received what looks like a similar award a month ago. Back...
DID Editor Joe Katzman is on-site at AUSA 2013 in Washington, DC. I have a number of appointments already set up, but DID's team are always interested in meeting our readers, and all of the faces we'd otherwise "see" only via emails. DID is especially interested in...
Pentagon Back in Business * US Senator Kelly Ayotte [R-NH] lifted her hold on Deborah Lee James' nomination [PDF] as Air Force Secretary, which now looks ready to be confirmed by the Senate at the end of the month. Ayotte had blocked James' nomination last month...
Shutdown Shut Down * Having failed to come up with a bill of their own yesterday, House Republicans were left with little choice but to capitulate to the very sort of Senate bill they were adamant to avoid. The Continuing Appropriations Act (HR 2775) first sailed...
US Shutdown Watch * House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner [R-OH] failed to rally Republicans to back what was supposed to be an alternative to the stopgap fiscal bill being discussed in the Senate. This weakens the hand of House GOP lawmakers objecting to the...
Shutdown Watch * US Senate leaders are saying they are close to reaching a deal to put an end to the government shutdown and raise the debt limit. This would get another round of talks started until early 2014, and would revisit sequestration constraints. The Senate...
STARStreak In 2009, Britain was looking to cut the number of STARStreak portable air defense missiles in stock, even as it signed a through-life support contract that would last until 2020-2021. In 2013, they changed course, buying another 200 missiles in order to...