Executives from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing declined an invitation from Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to testify during a Tuesday hearing about waste, fraud, cost overruns and auditing the Pentagon.
Congress
May 12, 2021
May 11, 2021
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) said today he thinks the flat defense budget proposed by the Biden administration will provide opportunities to reform the Pentagon and prioritize new technologies over older programs.
May 11, 2021
Mike McCord, nominated to serve as Defense Department comptroller -- a job he held during the Obama administration -- was questioned by lawmakers today about President Biden's proposed Pentagon budget, though full details have not yet been released.
May 10, 2021
A new report from the Government Accountability Office highlights roadblocks to developing alternate positioning, navigation and timing capabilities and recommends the Defense Department do a better job of coordinating authorities, increase its focus on resiliency and clarify PNT requirements.
April 30, 2021
The Marine Corps is considering arming its new Light Amphibious Warship with containerized missiles to increase the ship’s lethality, Commandant Gen. David Berger said in his written testimony to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee Thursday.
April 29, 2021
The Marine Corps needs to critically re-evaluate the scope of its current major defense acquisition programs as part of its force design efforts, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger said Thursday.
April 29, 2021
Unplanned maintenance work on Littoral Combat Ships is increasing the risk of readying those vessels for operation on time, according to a Government Accountability Office report released today.
April 29, 2021
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) said this week he wants to identify legacy Pentagon programs that can be eliminated or reduced so new investments can be made in information systems, like the financial management technology required to audit the Defense Department.
April 28, 2021
The Government Accountability Office has found the Pentagon's major acquisition programs have accumulated $615 billion in total cost growth since they began, a 52% increase, with about 60% of that growth being unrelated to increases in quantities purchased.
April 28, 2021
A bipartisan congressional group has introduced a $25 billion shipyard improvement bill that will provide $21 billion for the Navy's four public shipyards.
April 28, 2021
The Missile Defense Agency punted all planned 2020 operational cybersecurity assessments, tests required to determine vulnerabilities, according to congressional investigators who note these failures are accompanied by agency rationales but nevertheless marks a third consecutive year of shortcomings that point to "a broader MDA cybersecurity development issue.
April 23, 2021
The Navy will have to spend $34 billion per year on shipbuilding, 10% more than service estimates, to enact its recent shipbuilding plan to grow the fleet, according to an analysis the Congressional Budget Office released Thursday.
April 22, 2021
The Government Accountability Office is recommending the Air Force reconsider its F-35 requirements, including the number of aircraft it plans to buy, in light of concerns around long-term affordability.
April 22, 2021
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smtih (D-WA), who will help shape the upcoming defense policy bill, said today he wants the Pentagon to change the way it does business with defense contractors, especially with intellectual property arrangements, so the government can lower costs and promote greater competition.
April 20, 2021
Private shipyards are seeking inclusion in the Biden administration's infrastructure bill, as the administration moves forward with its second major legislative priority.
April 16, 2021
The top uniformed official responsible for defending the nation against North Korean ballistic missile attack threw cold water this week on the Missile Defense Agency's push for adding an "underlayer" to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, arguing the proposal to add the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA is too expensive and too narrowly focused given the range of potential air threats that need to be addressed.
April 15, 2021
The head of U.S. Southern Command is calling for the return of the "ISR transfer fund," as he anticipates intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance will continue to be one of his major unfunded priorities this year.
April 14, 2021
The Defense Department is accelerating its adoption of a "zero trust" cybersecurity architecture, including through the potential creation of a new portfolio management office, as officials say recent hacking campaigns show U.S. adversaries are becoming more sophisticated in cyberspace.
April 13, 2021
Top Defense Department research officials today told lawmakers the Pentagon's newly formed innovation steering group is studying internal changes DOD can make to accelerate technology adoption and reduce barriers to working with the department.
April 13, 2021
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) said today he is concerned officials at the White House are "dragging their feet getting us the damn budget."