Congress

Senate appropriators want more visibility into the F-35 follow-on modernization strategy and are directing the joint program office to provide more details on its plans in future budget requests.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) said today the current National Defense Strategy places too much emphasis on militarily dominating China and Russia and called on Democrats to rewrite it if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidential election.

Boeing, prime contractor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, has warned government auditors that if the Missile Defense Agency breaks the current contract used to manage the homeland defense system into smaller projects as the Defense Department is currenting considering, then the company could lose "irreplaceable" personnel with experience and expertise on the program.

The Navy's new frigate program could cost 40% more than the service's estimate, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report.

The Trump administration’s decision to export material used in missile production to China undermines U.S. national security and should not be allowed to proceed, a group of Senate Democrats said on Monday.

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) said Wednesday that he believes the Navy needs to move faster to address shipyard issues than the 20-year timeline laid out in the service's Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan.

The Government Accountability Office has raised concerns that the National Nuclear Security Administration's W87-1 program -- potentially the most expensive warhead modernization effort since the end of the Cold War -- is neglecting best management practices when considering future design options and plutonium pit availability, according to previously undisclosed details from a classified report the watchdog completed in February.

House Democrats have crafted a stopgap spending measure that allows the Pentagon an exemption from normal restrictions so it can award contracts for the Navy's first two Columbia-class submarines.

The Trump administration is balking at four missile defense provisions advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee's mark of the fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill, asking lawmakers to reconsider a funding cut and increase to the Next Generation Interceptor and Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii programs, respectively.