Delving further into one of the more intriguing developments of this year's budget season:

Air Force Takes Critical Step Toward New Nuclear Cruise Missile Program

The Pentagon is taking a crucial first step toward developing a new nuclear-armed cruise missile called the Long Range Standoff (LRSO) weapon, a key component of the Defense Department's plan to modernize its long-range strike capabilities and ensure it can hit targets in well-defended, hard-to-reach areas such as China and Iran.

And more, from today's Inside the Air Force:

Air Force In Early Acquisition Process For A DWSS Follow-On Program

Air Force officials are in the early stages of defining the requirements for a system that will provide capabilities similar to what the now-canceled Defense Weather Satellite System program would have provided, according to a service spokesman.

Senior Leaders Stress Need For Base Realignment and Closure In '13, '15

The Air Force expects to close active-duty bases if Congress approves a new round of base realignment and closure this decade, and the service's excess infrastructure has only grown since the last BRAC commission finished its work in 2005, the Air Force's chief and secretary said this week.

Air Force Considers Early Operational Fielding Dates For Global Hawk

The Air Force is considering fielding its Global Hawk Block 40 unmanned aircraft for early operational employment even though a recent Pentagon testing report says current program test plans and schedules do not include activities necessary to support early operational fielding.

Big news on how the Pentagon will work to field urgently needed stuff, and more:

Pentagon Overhauls Requirements Process To Better Meet Urgent Needs

In a major policy shift, the Defense Department has overhauled the way it sets requirements for all new U.S. military capabilities, revamping the process to quickly field urgently needed weapons.

The major changes to the bureaucratic Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) will simplify and accelerate the process of addressing critical needs while enabling better oversight by the Pentagon's top brass, said Brig. Gen. Richard Stapp, the Joint Staff's deputy director for requirements. "Changes have been made to the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System, creating streamlined procedures and time lines to increase the effectiveness and responsiveness of the requirements development process," Stapp told Inside the Pentagon.

Combatant commanders have been concerned the costly and time-consuming JCIDS process does not reliably address their pressing needs, according to a May 2011 Government Accountability Office report. The system, implemented in 2003 to foster the development of a joint force, has faced heavy criticism from military leaders, as well as Congress.

DOCUMENT ALERT:

Joint Staff's Updated JROC Charter

The Jan. 10, 2012, Joint Staff instruction "implements the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) as an advisory council to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff" and "further delineates the roles and responsibilities of the JROC, its subordinate boards, and other organizations with equity in the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) and other departmental processes."

Joint Staff Instruction On JCIDS

The Jan. 10, 2012, Joint Staff instruction "establishes the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) as the process used by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) to fulfill its advisory responsibilities to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in identifying, assessing, validating, and prioritizing joint military capability requirements."

DOD's JCIDS Manual

The Jan. 19, 2012, Defense Department manual outlines the "guidelines and procedures for operation of the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS)."

More from today's Inside the Pentagon:

Sub-Launched, Hypersonic Strike Proposal Could Ease Competition Calls

The Pentagon's plan to develop a hypersonic weapon capable of being launched from submarines could mitigate some congressional concerns about a lack of competition in the conventional-strike arena, said a congressional source.

Last spring, the leadership of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee sent a letter to the Defense Department expressing concern that defense officials appeared to be focusing on just one Conventional Prompt Global Strike solution.

But in a white paper on fiscal year 2013 defense budget decisions released last week, the Pentagon calls for the design of a new submarine-launched conventional prompt strike option as part of its effort to increase or protect investments "in capabilities that preserve the U.S. military's ability to project power in contested areas and strike quickly from over the horizon." The word "global" is notably absent from the reference to the program in the white paper.

This program "addresses hypersonic boost-glide payload delivery vehicle technologies," a Pentagon spokeswoman said.

...they are not happy about U.S. MEADS actions:

Germany, Italy Oppose New Pentagon Plan To Shut Down MEADS Early

The German and Italian governments oppose a new Defense Department plan to bring the Medium Extended Air Defense System to a close earlier than agreed to last October, according to a letter sent to the Pentagon's top acquisition official.

Signed by national armaments directors Detlef Selhausen and Gen. Claudio Debertolis, the letter responds to a Jan. 17 missive from acting defense acquisition executive Frank Kendall, which outlined a proposal to cancel MEADS after the current fiscal year. Kendall cited the U.S. defense budget outlook and a provision in the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act as the reason for the new approach.

Selhausen and Debertolis, in their response, told Kendall they were surprised by the letter, calling its contents disappointing. "Although we took note of your announcement, we cannot consider your proposal as a valid way ahead," they wrote.

"If your position remains unchanged, we will expect a timely, honest unilateral program withdrawal declaration" in line with a MEADS memorandum of understanding approved by the three partner nations in 2004, the letter states.

Taking a look at the chances of another BRAC round anytime soon:

Capitol Hill Unlikely To Approve New BRAC Round For Near Term

Days after the Pentagon announced plans to request new authority from Congress to conduct two more rounds of base closures, mounting opposition from lawmakers is threatening to put the idea on ice for a few years.

The plan for more Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) rounds faces an "uphill" battle in Congress, a congressional source said this week. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) has said he would be reluctant to support another domestic BRAC round before reducing numbers at European bases. Connecticut lawmakers have called the Defense Department's request "dead on arrival."

And according to Arnold Punaro, a retired two-star Marine Corps general and former Senate Armed Services Committee staff director who now works as a consultant and serves on the Defense Business Board, the need for more BRAC rounds is obvious but the Pentagon essentially has no chance of securing congressional support for a round in fiscal year 2013. There is an even chance Congress will support a BRAC round in FY-15 or later years, but that will only happen if DOD takes the initiative to shutter bases abroad, he told Inside the Pentagon.

"First, any law would not be approved until late fall 2012 at the earliest and then you have to have the nominations for the commission which is unlikely until after the election," Punaro said. The Senate would not even get to the confirmation process until March 2013, and by the time that DOD could get its recommendation up to Congress and the commission did its review, it would be toward the end of FY-14, he said.

Two white papers make for interesting reading:

SOUTHCOM White Papers On Sequestration, Efficiencies

The Jan. 9, 2012, white papers outline the sequestration effects on U.S. Southern Command, as well as the efficiencies the command has implemented.

Not surprisingly, as our story reports, SOUTHCOM isn't sure what sequestration will mean.

SOUTHCOM: Sequestration Impact Unclear Without More DOD Guidance

U.S. Southern Command cannot assess how sequestration would impact its budget unless the Pentagon provides further guidance on the level at which new defense cuts would be implemented, according to an internal document that suggests missions might be cut. . . .

An unclassified Jan. 9 SOUTHCOM white paper on sequestration states that it is not immediately clear how individual military organizations and programs would be impacted by the automatic spending reductions that would be used to achieve the mandated $1.2 trillion reduction to the federal deficit.

"We cannot assess the impact at this time, because we do not have guidance yet, on how the 'across-the-board' reductions will be implemented," the white paper states. "Depending on the level, at which they determine to take the cuts, i.e., OSD Program Elements, Service Program Elements, etc., USSOUTHCOM may not take 'equal' cuts across its programs. It could take more from some programs than others, or none at all."

One of the main areas not to be touched -- yet -- is under scrutiny:

White House's NPR Implementation Study Eyes Smaller Nuclear Arsenal

The degree to which the Obama administration might slash the nation's nuclear arsenal is being weighed by the White House in an ongoing study that was initially slated to be completed late last year.

The Nuclear Posture Review Implementation Study is under way as directed by President Obama as part of the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, an administration official said.

The analysis, the official noted, is focused on achieving the five strategic objectives established in the NPR: preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism; reducing the role of nuclear weapons in the U.S. national strategy; maintaining strategic deterrence and stability at reduced nuclear force levels; strengthening deterrence and reassuring U.S. allies and partners; and sustaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal.

"The analysis from this study will be used to develop the president's guidance to the Department of Defense on nuclear planning to guide what force structure, force posture and stockpile requirements are necessary to protect the United States and our allies and partners and to inform plans for nuclear weapons in the event that deterrence fails," the official said.

...yesterday:

Air Force Budget Preview Confirms More Retirements, Recap Cancellations

The Air Force plans to eliminate more than 280 aircraft in its inventory, defer or cancel a number of procurement programs and reduce its manpower by nearly 10,000 airmen over the next five years, the service said today in a document released ahead of the fiscal year 2013 budget request.

In the document, "Air Force Priorities for a New Strategy with Constrained Budgets," Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Secretary Michael Donley write that in order for the service to make good on its share of $487 billion in budget reductions over the next decade, the Air Force has had to reevaluate the size of its force and its modernization needs in the short term. Primarily, the service will achieve those reductions by retiring hundreds of aircraft and discontinuing or deferring procurement programs deemed "beyond our reach in the current fiscal environment."

DOCUMENT ALERT:

Air Force 'Priorities For A New Strategy With Constrained Budgets' White Paper

On Feb. 1, 2012, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz released the service's "Priorities for a New Strategy with Constrained Budgets" white paper.

And while we're at it:

Army-Air Force MOU On Intra-Theater Airlift

On Jan. 27, 2012, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, inked a one-page memorandum of understanding delegating to theater commanders a measure of discretion over how best to align the control of transportation assets in support of front-line units. Also includes a 2009 concept of employment (CONEMP) agreed to by the Air Force and Army vice chiefs of staff that, among other things, envisioned direct support being provided by any available aircraft, whether C-27J or C-130.

Our coverage:

Top Brass Ink Agreement To Support Army In Wake Of C-27J Termination

Pentagon top brass have formally reaffirmed a 2009 pact outlining a framework for how the Air Force will provide direct support to the Army for the delivery of time-sensitive, mission-critical equipment, a move designed to "mitigate" the Defense Department's decision to eliminate the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft fleet as part of a package of budget-reduction measures.

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