By Rep. Todd Akin Why would the most expensive defense acquisition program in American history not be required to follow the rules? The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the future fighter for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The program has been repeatedly reorganized due to growing costs and schedule delays. This year the… Keep reading →

There is broad bipartisan agreement that few national security issues are as critical as how to deal with America’s crippling debt. This means we should spend scarce dollars on the weapons we need for current threats and not on programs with diminishing strategic relevance. Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee, however, apparently are still… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The House passed the annual defense spending bill this afternoon, 299 votes to 120, after two days of amendments and debate that hit election-year hot buttons hard but largely ignored substantive military issues or the looming threat of sequestration. “If January comes and the Budget Control Act remains in effect as currently written, everything… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON:A quick look at what the Democratic national security establishment thinks about the National Defense Authorization Act now moving through the House. Here’s what the progressive National Security Network (whose board includes Wes Clark and Samuel Burger, among others) says in a posting about the bill: The House version of the NDAA breaks last summer’s… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: House Republicans will probably be seething after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta scolded them today for adding several billion dollars money to the defense budget. “If we’re prevented from retiring aging ships and aircraft that no longer fit strategic requirements, then Congress would be forcing us to look elsewhere for savings,” Panetta said at a… Keep reading →

HASC votes to restrict Administration’s ability to negotiate international "space code of conduct" — explained here:  http://bit.ly/JfscX1 SydneyFreedberg

WASHINGTON: Even as two Navy admirals praised the Littoral Combat Ship to reporters in a hastily convened conference call, the House Armed Services Committee ordered the Government Accountability Office to investigate the program. [CORRECTED (9 p.m. Wednesday) To Reflect That Navy Had Planned Interview For More Than A Week] “It’s disturbing that the Navy would… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: While much of the defense press was focused yesterday on the HASC markup and the SASC hearing about the F-35, my colleague at DoDBuzz spotted a good story about sequestration. Here’s the core of Phil Ewing’s story: Boeing CEO Jim McNerney warned Tuesday that the threat of next year’s automatic, across-the-board budget growth reductions… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Congress orders up innumerable reports, and the Pentagon routinely delivers them months late, but the Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan is one report that actually matters. That’s why Rep. Todd Akin, seapower chairman on the House Armed Services Committee, will offer an amendment to the defense authorization bill at Wednesday’s mark-up session that will demand… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: One of the few entirely new major Pentagon weapon systems appears to be rising from the dead, with the $5 billion Joint Air To Ground Missile living on roughly $300 million of money already appropriated and securing supportive language in the House Armed Services Committee’s first draft of the defense policy bill. “The rumors… Keep reading →