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Budget

Counter-Drone Lasers Funded In FY 2017 Omnibus Bill

By Marc Selinger

Thursday, May 4th, 2017

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Counter-Drone Lasers Funded In FY 2017 Omnibus Bill

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). Official Senate photo.

The fiscal year 2017 omnibus appropriations bill could help move laser weapons to the battlefield after decades of development, according to a key lawmaker.The recently unveiled legislation contains $16.7 million for the Marine Corps to buy five Boeing [BA] 2-kilowatt laser systems to defend against enemy unmanned aerial vehicles. The funding would support “the rapid production and procurement of the Department of Defense’s first-ever directed energy weapon system to be fielded to U.S. troops in an operational environment,” said Sen.…

Space

NRO Nominee: “We Have To Look Differently At Our Requirements”

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has said that it has launched more than 200 proliferated low Earth orbit satellites in the last two years to supplement the costly high-end systems […]

Congress

Congress Needed Pentagon’s Iran Supplemental Request ‘Yesterday,’ HASC’s Wittman Says

A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) said Wednesday that Congress needed the Pentagon’s Iran supplemental funding request “yesterday,” noting the ongoing lack of details from the […]

Space

Space Force Eyes Nearly $1.5 Billion for Space Data Network Backbone in Future Reconciliation Bill

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) plans to request nearly $1.5 billion for the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone in a future fiscal 2027 reconciliation bill. Last week, Space Force’s Space […]

Congress

Warren And Sheehy Renew Call for “Right to Repair” In NDAA

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Timothy Sheehy (R-Mont.), two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), are renewing their call for “Right to Repair” language in the National […]