The Trump Defense Agenda

The Pentagon in the coming year will be able to implement about one-third of the 300 classified policy recommendations in its recent report on the defense industrial base, according to Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy Eric Chewning, who helped manage the study. 

The Army’s fiscal year 2020 budget will propose canceling, reducing or consolidating at least $25 billion in expenses across the Pentagon’s new five-year spending plan to realign the service’s weapon system modernization portfolio with the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy and emphasize investments in “next-generation” capabilities.

The Pentagon is considering a plan to potentially spend $450 million to enhance existing fencing and construct additional barriers along 31 miles of an Arizona bombing range that borders Mexico.

Industry sources and Obama administration veterans are expressing concerns about President Trump's decision to scrap Presidential Policy Directive-20 -- which has guided the use of cyber weapons by the military -- while other sources say this simply removes bureaucratic hurdles that have undermined cyber deterrence policy.

The defense industrial base report, which is at the White House, focuses on the defense supply chain down to "the granular level," according to the Pentagon acquisition chief.

Although it's unclear how the Pentagon will implement President Trump's direction this week to establish a new “Space Force,” some Defense Department analysts and former officials say the White House's endorsement of the controversial proposal could diminish resistance within the Defense Department and make room for compromise among House and Senate lawmakers.

President Trump came into office a year ago promising to grow the Navy to 350 ships, a vow cheered by shipbuilders and congressional supporters.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said today the new National Defense Strategy emphasizes military capability over capacity, increasing the Pentagon's focus on new investments in high-end technologies aimed at "great power competition" with China and Russia.

President Trump's initial National Security Strategy calls for fielding an "enhanced" missile defense capability, including the means to defeat threats prior to launch, a policy likely to put emphasis and funding behind new projects, including non-kinetic capabilities, lasers and possibly cyberattack weapons.