Defense Watch

S&T Nomination. President Donald Trump has nominated William Bryan to be the Under Secretary for Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security. Bryan has been the acting chief […]

Hardware Fund. Pentagon technology chief Michael Griffin says he backs a congressional proposal to provide $150 million to encourage private-sector investment in hardware technologies that might be useful to the […]

SpaceX Contract. SpaceX has edged out United Launch Alliance (ULA) for a U.S. Air Force contract to place a classified satellite in orbit in late fiscal year 2020. Under the […]

Defense Bill. The Senate plans to resume consideration of its $716 billion fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill on June 18 at 3 p.m. A vote to pass the legislation […]

B-1s Grounded. The Air Force grounded its B-1B bomber fleet June 7, citing an “issue with ejection seat components.” The service said it found the problem while investigating a B-1B’s […]

Missile Warning. The Air Force, which recently decided to pursue a more defendable successor to its missile-warning Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites, continues to explore what the new spacecraft […]

NORAD/NORTHCOM. Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy formally took the reins of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) during a May 24 ceremony at Peterson Air […]

Amendments Galore. House members have submitted more than 500 amendments for potential consideration when the full House takes up the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill. One amendment, by Rep. […]

Vulcan Engines. United Launch Alliance (ULA) said it has picked the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 to be the upper-stage engine of its new Vulcan Centaur medium- to heavy-lift rocket. In addition […]

No More SCO? The House Armed Services Committee’s fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill calls for a plan to eliminate or transfer the functions of the Defense Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office […]