Pentagon

An informal group of U.S. investors tracking dual-use technologies of interest to the Pentagon has emerged over the past year.

SIMI VALLEY, CA -- Defense Secretary Mark Esper called on Defense Department leaders to make "tough choices" in cutting legacy systems and investing in new technologies as DOD eyes the end-game in building its fiscal year 2021 budget request. 

SIMI VALLEY, CA -- Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, called on leaders of U.S. big technology firms to not “turn their backs” on the Defense Department, even if some employees have misgivings about developing new technology for the U.S. military.

SANTA MONICA, CA -- The Air Force has readied a plan for immediate formation of a new Space Force in anticipation of direction from Congress, identifying the bulk of the forces, units and missions to be transitioned to the new U.S. military branch in fiscal year 2021 along with "a large pot of money," according to a senior service official.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) said today "it is very much possible" that by the end of the day lawmakers could agree on a bipartisan path for the stalled fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill.

Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin said this week the fledgling Space Development Agency has had to slow down or pause some early architecture work as the Pentagon awaits congressional action on fiscal year 2020 defense spending legislation.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said today the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill is being "held hostage" by legislative disagreements beyond his committee's jurisdiction and can only be finalized by Republican and Democratic party leaders.

The Defense Department through an industry consortium today issued the first two draft solicitations for fifth-generation telecommunications technology development, formally kicking off a new effort to determine how the military can best make use of high-speed wireless networks and interconnected devices.

The growing proliferation of weapons with global reach is prompting Pentagon leaders to launch a study on the need for a robust domestic air defense capability to protect the entire nation -- which, since the advent of flight more than a century ago, has relied in part on two vast oceans as a buffer against adversaries attacking American citizens and soil with low-flying aircraft and missiles.