Posted late yesterday:

Kendall Issues Guidance On JLTV Program

Acting Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall has signed a new acquisition decision memorandum laying out key guidance and cost targets for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program.

The program's average procurement unit cost affordability target will not exceed $370,000 in fiscal year 2011 dollars, he writes in the Jan. 25 memo to the Army and Navy secretaries, which is stamped "for official use only." The memo paved the way for today's release by the Army of the JLTV request for proposals for engineering and manufacturing development.

DOCUMENT ALERT:

JLTV Acquisition Decision Memo

In a Jan. 25, 2012, acquisition decision memorandum marked "for official use only," acting Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall provides guidance for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program.

Highlights from today's issue of Inside the Air Force:

Pentagon White Paper Details Air Force Fleet Structure, Program Changes

The Defense Department's $525 billion fiscal year 2013 budget request cuts Joint Strike Fighter procurement quantities, cancels at least two high-profile Air Force procurement programs and calls for the standing down of both tactical and airlift aircraft in the service's fleet, DOD officials revealed Jan. 26.

DOD Chops Global Hawk Program In Half, But Testing Issues Resolved

The Defense Department is pointing to the high operating cost of the Global Hawk Block 30 unmanned aircraft as the reason why the Air Force program has been terminated, even though officials have remedied the issues it faced during operational testing.

Bartlett Calls Air Force Plan To Provide C-130 Aircraft To Army A Bad Idea

A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee is calling an Air Force plan to provide direct support to the Army's ground forces with C-130 aircraft instead of C-27J aircraft "penny wise and pound foolish."

Australia Nears JSF Decision In 2012, Hopes For Bigger Industry Role

The Australian government is preparing to make a formal decision in 2012 on procuring additional Joint Strike Fighter aircraft while at the same time looking to participate more heavily in manufacturing the F-35, according to a senior Australian official.

If Permitted, Exporting F-22 Raptor Would Cost Partners $14.3 Billion

In the unlikely event that Congress allows the F-22 Raptor to be sold abroad, international partners would need to invest an estimated $14.3 billion to restart the aircraft's production line, modify the fighter to protect critical American technologies and acquire a fleet of 40 F-22s, according to a Defense Department report obtained by Inside the Air Force.

DOCUMENT ALERT:

Air Force Report To Congress On Bomber Modernization, Sustainment and Recapitalization Efforts

The September 2011 report to Congress describes "on-going and planned modernization efforts; funding across the future years defense program (FYDP); major program schedule; service life summary; and sustainment challenges" for B-1, B-2 and B-52 bomber aircraft.

DOD Report To Congress On Potential F-22A Foreign Military Sales

The Aug. 2, 2010, Defense Department report to Congress, obtained in January 2012 via a Freedom of Information Act request, describes the "costs to the U.S. government, industry and any foreign military sales customer of developing an exportable version of the F-22A fighter aircraft."

Two more stories on yesterday's events:

Dempsey: Sub-Launched Conventional Strike Weapons Won't Be Confused For Nukes

The Pentagon wants to design a long-range conventional strike weapon that could be launched from submarines, claiming the necessary technology has developed enough to assuage concerns about prior concepts -- including the fear that such a missile might be mistaken for a nuclear weapon.

DOD: CG-47s, LSDs To Be Retired Early

The Navy is retiring seven CG-47 Ticonderoga-class cruisers early and slipping the construction of numerous ships to later budget years, the Defense Department announced today.

Stay tuned for much more.

The document:

DOD's FY-13 Budget 'Priorities And Choices' White Paper

On Jan. 26, 2012, the Pentagon released its "priorities and choices" white paper that outlines changes to the fiscal year 2013 budget request. Also includes prepared statements by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.

And our initial coverage:

In White Paper, Pentagon Lays Out Key Budget Decisions

The Defense Department's $525 billion fiscal year 2013 budget request cuts F-35 Joint Strike Fighter procurement quantities, reduces funding for the Army's Ground Combat Vehicle program because of a delay caused by a contract dispute, and curtails the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Elevated Netted Sensor System due to concerns about its cost and operational mobility, states a DOD white paper released today.

Much more to come. Follow us on Twitter for breaking news alerts.

Stay tuned for news throughout the day on the big doings at the Pentagon.

On to our regularly scheduled programming...

We're never happy with waiting for the official announcement, of course, and we've been steadily previewing a lot of what you'll hear about the budget changes today. Here's more, from Inside the Pentagon:

Sources: Submarine Procurement Rate In Jeopardy As DOD Weighs Cut

The Defense Department's plan to buy two multibillion-dollar nuclear attack submarines annually in the coming years appears to be in jeopardy as the Pentagon prepares to unveil its fiscal year 2013 budget request, according to industry sources.

The launch of the two-per-year procurement rate in FY-11 marked the achievement of a longstanding goal for the shipyards that build the Virginia-class attack subs. Industry has craved the stability of steady procurement. And the Navy has praised the positive impact the arrangement has had on the industrial base.

But industry sources said this week the department has been seriously considering cutting a sub from the long-term shipbuilding plan, a move that would derail the continuation of the two-per-year streak through FY-17. One industry source said it appears likely one of the two subs in FY-14 will be cut. A Navy source said that this option would shift that sub to FY-18, boosting the buy rate from one to two in a year just outside the department's five-year budget plan.

More budget-related news from yesterday and earlier this week:

Post-MECV: Army Wants $300 Million In OCO For Depot-Based Humvee Work

The Army will request $300 million in fiscal year 2013 to pay for depot work to recapitalize 10,000 up-armored humvees -- a move that effectively pivots the service away from plans for competitive recapitalization of the vehicle, InsideDefense.com has learned.

Odierno: C-27J Unlikely To Survive

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said today that the Air Force's C-27J cargo aircraft program is likely to be killed, thwarting the Army's plan to use the aircraft to fill its direct support capability needs.

Pentagon Urges 'Re-Scoping' Of MEADS; Early Termination On The Table

Defense Department acting acquisition chief Frank Kendall has proposed altering plans for the remaining work on the Medium Extended Air Defense System program to reduce cost, raising the specter of early termination, according to defense officials.

Humvee Recap Effort Killed; Army Won't Reap Savings

In a stunning reversal of fortune for the competitive humvee recapitalization effort, Pentagon officials plan to cancel the Medium Expanded Capacity Vehicle and shift the money saved to pay Navy and Air Force bills, Inside the Army has learned.

Scaled-Down Version Of JAGM Could Look A Lot Like A Beefed-Up Hellfire

As the Army goes about redesigning the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile program to save it from cancellation, service officials are considering as a starting point the weapon that the missile was supposed to replace, Inside the Army has learned.

Latest on JSF:

Kendall: F-35B Probation Created Image Problem That Needed Fixing

The Pentagon's decision last year to put the Marine Corps' Joint Strike Fighter variant on probation created a false impression that the F-35B faced impending doom, a perception that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sought to fix last week by ending the trial period, according to Frank Kendall, the department's acting procurement chief.

When then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates put the F-35B on a two-year probation, he threatened to halt development of the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) variant, warning, "If we cannot fix this variant during this time frame and get it back on track in terms of performance, cost and schedule, then I believe it should be canceled."

But Gates' remarks led some to wrongly conclude the Defense Department was poised to kill the F-35B, Kendall told Inside the Pentagon last week after Panetta repealed the probation a year early.

"Secretary Gates used the word 'probation' -- there was a perception that people gained from that that wasn't entirely accurate," Kendall said in a brief interview at the naval base in Patuxent River, MD.

Related:

End Of F-35B Probation Might Not Translate Into More FMS Deals

The Pentagon's decision to end the probation that has loomed over the Marine Corps' F-35B Joint Strike Fighter will not necessarily help the U.S. government persuade more countries to join Spain and Italy in buying the aircraft's short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) variant, according to a senior Pentagon official and an industry analyst.

Navy: Deficit-Reduction Targets Threaten Major F-35 Restructuring

The Defense Department could need to conduct a major restructuring of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program to meet deficit-reduction targets mandated by Congress, a Navy contract notice warns.

Air Force, Navy Tech Investments Lead To $1 Billion In F-35 Program Savings

The Pentagon projects the Joint Strike Fighter program will avoid $1.1 billion in previously estimated production and sustainment costs as a result of investments made by the Navy and Air Force in technologies designed to improve the manufacturing of a handful of components, according to the Navy three-star admiral overseeing the F-35 program.

More from Inside the Pentagon:

Navy Launches Classified Talks To Update 2007 Maritime Strategy

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert has launched a series of classified discussions, including secret-level meetings this week, to update the 2007 maritime strategy signed by the chiefs of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, according to sources and documents.

Sources tracking the process said the effort to refresh the strategy is well under way and recent discussions at the Naval War College in Newport, RI, and more planned talks at the Center for Naval Analyses, are meant to inform the work. Greenert wants the October 2007 strategy, titled "A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower," to be refreshed by March, said an industry source.

The publication of the new maritime strategy will follow the Defense Department's recent release of its new Defense Strategic Guidance, which cites the need to "rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region" and calls for greater spending on Navy and Air Force capabilities aimed at countering anti-access and area-denial threats, terms the strategy associates with China and Iran. The DOD document also calls for more investment in cyber capabilities; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and countering weapons of mass destruction.

According to a copy of the draft agenda for this week's "geostrategic workshop" reviewed by Inside the Pentagon, the naval event will take place at the secret level and kick off today with a discussion of the "changing character of warfare," followed by a session on the Persian Gulf, Iran and the Middle East. The latter talk would include more than an hour on the Arab Spring and the future of the region, and 90 minutes on Iran, the document states.

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