Jen Stewart, a Pentagon insider and former congressional aide, will return to Capitol Hill to become Republican staff director of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), the GOP-led panel announced Aug. 21. Stewart will replace longtime director Bob Simmons, who left in the spring to join the private sector (Defense Daily, May 1). Jenness Simler, who […]
The U.S. Air Force plans to finish a study later this year on the potential impact of changing existing law to allow surplus intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) motors to be used on commercial space launches, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report Aug. 16 While the Department of Defense and NASA use […]
The U.S. Air Force does not have adequate resources to address the long-term needs of its nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) systems, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Aug. 15. “We found that the Air Force has continued to take steps to provide an Air Force-wide NC3 oversight structure for the NC3 Weapon System, […]
Not long after locals did the same, all members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation said this week they have concerns about the Energy Department’s plan for the next national laboratory contract in northern New Mexico. In a list of six concerns over the next decade-spanning management and operations contract at the Los Alamos National Laboratory […]
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to send Congress this month a multi-billion-dollar upgrade plan for the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Aug. 8. The report on the Block 4 modernization effort is required by the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization act and was supposed to be […]
The Senate committed to public-private coordination and long-term spectrum planning needed to address efforts to protect online devices, collectively known as the Internet of Things (IoT), with the passing of the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act on Thursday. The DIGIT Act, which passed by unanimous vote, aims to assess the […]
The Senate confirmed Richard V. Spencer as the newest secretary of the Navy on Tuesday as well as seven other civilian Defense Department nominees. Spencer succeeds acting Secretary Sean Stackley and Obama’s Secretary Ray Mabus. The Senate approved of Spencer in a voice vote, just like the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) did last month […]
The U.S. military should continue improving its stealth aircraft technology to keep its advantage over possible rivals in the coming decades, according to a report released Aug. 2 by the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute. Stealth aircraft have played an important role in U.S. operations since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when the F-117 stealth […]
A group of Democratic and Republican senators on Tuesday introduced legislation aimed at improving the cyber security of online devices, commonly called the Internet of Things (IoT). The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017 directs that the vendors that supply the federal government with IOT devices must ensure they can be patched, don’t […]
Two troubled U.S. Air Force space-related acquisition efforts — the Global Positioning System (GPS) Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) and the Family of Advanced Beyond Line of Sight Terminal (FAB-T) – have experienced another round of delays. The Air Force said in a statement late July 31 that it expects OCX Blocks 1 and […]
