Defense & Military

The Air Force’s fiscal year 2018 budget request contains billions of dollars to ramp up development work on several major new aviation and missile programs, including the B-21 bomber and the Long Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO). The B-21 Raider, which will replace aging bombers, would receive $2 billion in FY 2018, up from $1.3 billion […]

The leaders of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff have been nominated to stay in their positions, the Defense Department announced Friday. The Pentagon said in a statement that Air Force Gen. Paul Selva has been nominated for reappointment as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford as chairman. Selva has […]

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says that Vayl Oxford has been selected as the new director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, succeeding Shari Durand, who retired on May 12. Oxford most recently was a national security executive policy advisor at the Energy Department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. During the Bush administration, Oxford led the Department […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily U.S. Air Force efforts to develop the new B-21 Raider bomber aircraft are proceeding as planned, according to the head of Air Force Global Strike Command. ”We’re where we said we were going to be,” said Gen. Robin Rand, whose command will eventually be charged with operating the aircraft. “I’m satisfied […]

Top generals with the U.S. Air Force on May 12 reaffirmed their call for continued modernization and recapitalization of the country’s nuclear capabilities. “We must modernize our aging delivery platforms, nuclear weapons and supporting infrastructure so that America’s deterrent remains credible and effective in the future,” Gen. David Goldfein, the service’s chief of staff, and Gen. […]

U.S. Air Force efforts to develop the new B-21 Raider bomber aircraft are proceeding as planned, according to the head of Air Force Global Strike Command. ”We’re where we said we were going to be,” said Gen. Robin Rand, whose command will eventually be charged with operating the aircraft. “I’m satisfied with where we’re at […]

Heather Wilson, a former congresswoman and Air Force officer, was sworn in as the 24th Air Force secretary during a May 16 ceremony at the Pentagon. Wilson said her priorities will include improving the service’s readiness, cost-effectively modernizing its capabilities, and developing leaders. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” she told the audience, which […]

Top generals with the U.S. Air Force on Friday reaffirmed their call for continued modernization and recapitalization of the country’s nuclear capabilities. “We must modernize our aging delivery platforms, nuclear weapons and supporting infrastructure so that America’s deterrent remains credible and effective in the future,” Gen. David Goldfein, the service’s chief of staff, and Gen. Robin […]

The Pentagon said Wednesday that Elbridge Colby has been appointed deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development. Colby has been working as a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan think tank focusing on U.S. national security policy. Colby’s role in the Senior Executive Service will involve advising […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The Senate late May 8 confirmed former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) to be the 24th secretary of the Air Force. Wilson, who was approved by a 76-22 vote, is President Trump’s first service secretary nominee to be confirmed. She is expected to be sworn in “within a week,” according to the […]

Marc Selinger Defense Daily The Senate plans to vote May 8 on the nomination of former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) to be Air Force secretary, according to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). A hold that an unnamed senator had placed on the nomination over a “local issue” has been lifted, McCain told Defense Daily May 4. McCain said […]

Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy told investors last week his company is reviewing its options when it comes to teaming on the Air Force’s Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, which is intended to replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile as the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad. “Right now, our strategy is we are engaging with multiple […]

U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command airmen from the service’s bases in Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska on Wednesday launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, the Air Force announced. The operational test involved an unarmed ICBM with a single test re-entry vehicle containing a telemetry package, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. […]

Senate Armed Services Committee staffer Robert Soofer has been selected for appointment as deputy assistant defense secretary for nuclear and missile defense policy, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. Soofer’s latest job on Capitol Hill was as staff lead for the panel’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee, covering nuclear, arms control, and missile defense issues, according to the Defense Department release. […]

Lockheed Martin Corp. on Tuesday announced net sales of $11.1 billion and net earnings from continuing operations of $763 million for the first quarter of 2017. Net sales increased from $10.4 billion in the same three-month period of 2016, while year-over-year net earnings fell from $806 million. Lockheed subsidiary Sandia Corp., with only a few […]

The Defense Department has formally begun preparing a new Nuclear Posture Review for the Donald Trump administration with the participation of interagency partners, including the State Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration. In a brief statement, the Pentagon on Monday said Defense Secretary James Mattis “directed the commencement of the review, which will be led by […]

The Defense Department announced Monday that it has formally begun preparing a new Nuclear Posture Review for the Donald Trump administration. In a brief statement, the Pentagon said Defense Secretary James Mattis “directed the commencement of the review, which will be led by the deputy secretary of defense and the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of […]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month achieved another milestone in decommissioning of the radiologically contaminated STURGIS barge, but the schedule for completing the project has been pushed back to summer 2019. The cost of the work has also spiked by up to $12 million. The Army is dismantling and decommissioning the former World […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted 22-5 in favor of Heather Wilson’s nomination as secretary of the Air Force, moving the matter on to the full Senate for final consideration. During her confirmation hearing before the committee last week, some lawmakers raised ethics concerns surrounding Wilson’s past consulting work. She was asked in particular […]

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted 22-5 in favor of Heather Wilson’s nomination as secretary of the Air Force, sending the matter to the full Senate for consideration. During her confirmation hearing in the same committee last week, some lawmakers raised ethics concerns surrounding Wilson’s past consulting work. She was asked about the contracts she […]

A prominent Capitol Hill observer believes Air Force secretary nominee Heather Wilson will “absolutely” be confirmed, though not unanimously. American Enterprise Institute Resident Fellow for Security Studies Mackenzie Eaglen says in an email that Wilson’s March 30 hearing did nothing to derail her chances as no new information that was egregious came forward. An Energy […]

Pat Host Defense Daily Most Republicans at Heather Wilson’s confirmation hearing to become the next Air Force secretary seemed largely uninterested in probing her alleged ethics missteps, instead saluting her experience and supporting her nomination. Aside from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) inquires, it was Democrats, led by Ranking Member Jack Reed […]

Three ethics groups this week urged the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee to reject Heather Wilson’s nomination as Air Force secretary given questions about her consulting for Department of Energy contractors. “As leading organizations promoting ethics and accountability, we strongly urge you to vote against the nomination of Heather Wilson to be Secretary […]

The head of U.S. military forces in Europe said Tuesday the United States should do more to bring Russia back into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The Trump administration has determined that Russia is in material breach of the treaty, which prohibits the U.S. and Russia from fielding ground-based cruise and ballistic missiles […]

President Donald Trump on March 21 formally submitted his nomination of Heather Wilson to become the next Air Force secretary after he announced his intention in late January. Wilson has served as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology since 2013. If confirmed, she will become the first Air Force Academy graduate […]

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Wednesday reaffirmed the necessity of sustaining all three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad and indicated the “level” of that deterrent is under consideration. “The need for a nuclear deterrent . . . requires a triad,” Mattis said during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. “To determine what […]

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Wednesday reaffirmed the necessity of sustaining all three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad and indicated the “level” of that deterrent is under consideration. “The need for a nuclear deterrent . . . requires a triad,” Mattis said during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. “To determine what […]

U.S. Strategic Command on Friday announced the conclusion one day earlier of its Global Lightning 17 exercise. The annual series of exercises involves Strategic Command, additional U.S. combatant commands and agencies, and personnel from the United Kingdom and other partner nations, according to a Strategic Command press release. This year’s event started on Feb. 7  “and […]

The U.S. Defense Department is set to complete its new Nuclear Posture Review this spring, and deliberations could address the weapons and nuclear yields necessary for the U.S. nuclear deterrent going forward, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said Tuesday. “I do believe we’re going to have discussions about munitions. I do believe […]

The U.S. Defense Department is set to complete its new Nuclear Posture Review this spring, and deliberations could address the types of weapons and nuclear yields necessary for the U.S. deterrent going forward, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said Tuesday. “I do believe we’re going to have discussions about munitions. I do […]