Senate appropriators last week urged the Army to put the brakes on plans to modernize the aging Patriot system, arguing the lack of an approved strategy and the prospect of no-bid contracts -- Raytheon makes the system -- has the markings of an acquisition effort doomed to fail.746 words

President Obama has nominated a naval officer to become the next head of the Missile Defense Agency, according to a Pentagon statement released this week. 242 words

Senate appropriators aren't quite ready to quit on the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, even though the Pentagon plans to downgrade its operational status beginning in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013. 434 words

Senate appropriators are recommending $381.7 million in fiscal year 2013 procurement funding for the Standard Missile-6 program, $17.7 million less than the Pentagon requested. 524 words

The Missile Defense Agency and the Air Force were supposed to submit a cost-benefit analysis of the Airborne Weapons Layer to lawmakers with the Pentagon's fiscal year 2013 budget request in February. Senate appropriators, in their report accompanying the FY-13 defense spending bill approved Aug. 2, note the analysis was not submitted. "The committee understands that the analysis is partially complete," the report states, calling for the Air Force secretary and MDA chief "to brief the congressional defense committees not later than 90 days after enactment of this act on their findings to date."93 words

Raytheon has completed testing six different warheads for the Army's new Accelerated Improved Interceptor Initiative, according to the company's AI3 program director. 385 words

The Senate Appropriations Committee is recommending no fiscal year 2013 funding for the Missile Defense Agency's directed-energy efforts. 655 words

The Defense Department's Inspector General this month released a fairly positive review of Air Force Global Strike Command's first three years in operation, commending many efficiencies in command relationships and noting additional opportunities to make more effective use of resources. 585 words

The Air Force wants to stabilize the production profile of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program in fiscal year 2013 by moving toward block buys amid concerns that the service is not doing enough to meet the Government Accountability Office's concerns. 559 words

The Air Force's next-generation Global Positioning System and its associated ground terminal will go through their first joint exercise later this month in an important test of the connection between Raytheon's GPS operational control segment and Lockheed Martin's GPS III simulator. 969 words

The Air Force's fourth Wideband Global Satellite Communications spacecraft has completed on-orbit testing and is in its operating position over the Indian Ocean region, and the satellite is now awaiting acceptance from U.S. Strategic Command to be declared operational. 893 words

The Air Force last week put Boeing on contract to produce a 10th and final wideband communications satellite that will provide the service with enhanced wideband capability at a significantly lower cost than previous satellites in the same constellation, according to service and industry officials. 845 words

In an effort to control costs, Defense Department space programs ought to look into using private launch providers such as the California-based SpaceX, according to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. 563 words

Five members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence criticized cuts to commercial satellite imagery programs in the report accompanying the panel's fiscal year 2013 authorization bill. 524 words