Defense & Military

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is starting market research to find an “innovative missile defense launcher” and support equipment technologies that could be delivered within two years as part of the Golden Dome initiative. A Request For Information (RFI) published last week said the agency is seeking responses encompassing system-level, component-level, upgrades to existing systems, […]

Chief of Naval Operations nominee Adm. Daryl Caudle told a Senate confirmation hearing last week that  shipyard recruitment has to expand and that more outsourcing production is needed.  The Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony from Caudle on July 24.  “There’s more outsourcing opportunity that we need to do, even for our Virginia-class, the modular […]

Chief of Naval Operations nominee Adm. Daryl Caudle told a Senate confirmation hearing last week that  shipyard recruitment has to expand and that more outsourcing production is needed. The Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony from Caudle on July 24. “There’s more outsourcing opportunity that we need to do, even for our Virginia-class, the modular […]

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is starting market research to find an “innovative missile defense launcher” and support equipment technologies that could be delivered within two years as part of the Golden Dome initiative. A Request For Information (RFI) published last week said the agency is seeking responses encompassing system-level, component-level, upgrades to existing systems, […]

BWX Technologies has begun manufacturing the reactor core of Project Pele’s microreactor at its Innovation Campus  in Lynchburg, Va., the company announced Thursday, in a press release. Pele is a mobile gas-cooled demonstration microreactor with the ability to produce 1.5 megawatts. The microreactor, which will be used by the Department of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office, […]

On a 52 to 46 party line vote on Thursday, the GOP-controlled Senate confirmed Matthew Lohmeier as the 29th Undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force–the service’s number two civilian. In written answers to Senate Armed Services Committee questions before Lohmeier’s nomination hearing on May 1, he said that nuclear modernization, including the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A […]

BWX Technologies has begun manufacturing the reactor core of Project Pele’s microreactor at its Innovation Campus  in Lynchburg, Va., the company announced Thursday, in a press release. Pele is a mobile gas-cooled demonstration microreactor with the ability to produce 1.5 megawatts. The microreactor, which will be used by the Department of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office, […]

The House late on Thursday voted 221-209 to pass its $831.5 billion fiscal 2026 defense appropriations bill. The legislation was crafted by House appropriators before receiving full budget details from the Donald Trump administration and represents a flat spending level with fiscal 2025, although it aligns with the White House’s plan to factor in reconciliation […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) used a House Armed Services Committee hearing on a must-pass national defense policy bill Tuesday to bemoan proposed cuts to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) budget. The House Appropriations Committee last month advanced a fiscal 2026 funding bill that could cut GAO’s appropriation by nearly half. This is bad news for […]

U.S. Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the seventh head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) since its founding in 2009, would become the second AFGSC commander to ascend to Air Force Vice Chief of Staff if approved by the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated Bussiere on July 15, according to a Congressional notice. Founded […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) used a House Armed Services Committee hearing on a must-pass national defense policy bill Tuesday to bemoan proposed cuts to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) budget. The House Appropriations Committee last month advanced a fiscal 2026 funding bill that could cut GAO’s appropriation by nearly half. This is bad news for […]

Europe’s two nuclear-armed powers France and the United Kingdom agreed to coordinate their nuclear arsenals, both countries’ leaders announced in a press release Thursday. The decision comes as French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K.’s prime minister Keir Starmer signed a series of defense agreements. “From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks […]

The House last Thursday voted 218-214 to pass the massive reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense that the Pentagon has built into its fiscal year 2026 spending plans. After consideration of the tax and spending bill went through the night in the lower chamber, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed by President Trump […]

The House last Thursday voted 218-214 to pass the massive reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense that the Pentagon has built into its fiscal year 2026 spending plans. After consideration of the tax and spending bill went through the night in the lower chamber, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed by President Trump […]

The Senate on Tuesday narrowly passed the massive reconciliation bill with $150 billion for defense that the Pentagon has built into its fiscal year 2026 spending plans, sending the measure to the House. The lower chamber is expected to take up the “One Big Beautiful Bill” this week, to include the changes the Senate made […]

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) on June 18 expressed skepticism that the wide-ranging Golden Dome missile defense initiative is realistic, and also questioned the wisdom of planned cuts to the Pentagon’s top weapons testing office. In a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly told Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that getting the system to […]

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) on June 18 expressed skepticism that the wide-ranging Golden Dome missile defense initiative is realistic, and also questioned the wisdom of planned cuts to the Pentagon’s top weapons testing office. In a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly told Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that getting the system to […]

The House Appropriations Committee voted 36-27 last week to pass its $831.5 billion defense spending bill, as lawmakers reiterated the uncertainty of advancing appropriations legislation without having received full budget details from the Trump administration.  According to the bill summary, the bill supports modernization for the nuclear triad, which includes the B-21 Raider, the Columbia-class […]

The House Appropriations Committee voted 36-27 last week to pass its $831.5 billion defense spending bill, as lawmakers reiterated the uncertainty of advancing appropriations legislation without having received full budget details from the Trump administration.  According to the bill summary, the bill supports modernization for the nuclear triad, which includes the B-21 Raider, the Columbia-class […]

The Pentagon is placing big bets that the eventual reconciliation bill will provide large portions of the fiscal 2026 funding for some major weapons programs such as the Golden Dome project and B-21 bomber, according to a document obtained by affiliate publication Defense Daily. These bets come as Senate appropriators have cautioned against leaning too […]

The Department of the Air Force and the Defense Logistics Agency’s energy office plan to award California-based Oklo, Inc. a 30-year, firm fixed price contract for a microreactor, likely at Eielson AFB, Alaska. The contract is contingent upon Oklo receiving a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Oklo “would be required to site, develop, […]

House defense appropriators on Tuesday advanced their $831.5 billion fiscal year 2026 spending bill, just hours after pressing senior Pentagon leaders on the lack of details regarding the administration’s budget plans. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered some insight into a few specific funding plans, he faced bipartisan pushback from the panel over having to […]

House defense appropriators Monday released their $831.5 billion fiscal 2026 defense spending bill as the White House has yet to submit a detailed budget request. The bill aligns with the administration’s plan to factor in reconciliation funds to achieve a $1 trillion total topline. The full House Appropriations Committee will consider the legislation this week, […]

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on June 2 abruptly canceled an industry summit for the Golden Dome air and missile defense initiative.  The summit was set to occur in downtown Huntsville, Ala., on June 11. MDA said that “an announcement will be made on SAM.gov if/when a new date and location are planned.”  In a […]

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine offers a real-world example of military targeting of nuclear plants, and the issue requires more attention, a National Academies board heard last month in Washington, D.C. A war-gaming study to explore this threat was done recently by Henry Sokolski, who heads the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. He discussed the issue […]

As expected, President Donald Trump May 23 signed a set of executive orders designed to speed licensing of nuclear power reactors, both commercially and on federal installations, limit review by an independent nuclear regulator and beef up  the industry’s U.S. industrial base. Here is a thumbnail overview of each of the May 23 orders.  Overhauling […]

On Monday, the United Kingdom’s defense minister said the government plans to ultimately field 12 SSN-AUKUS attack submarines. Minster of Defense John Healey’s assessment came in the foreword of a new defense review report. Under the tripartite AUKUS agreement, the United States and U.K. agree to help Australia field nuclear-powered attack submarines, starting with at […]

China could have 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2035, an increase from 400 now, according to a Defense Intelligence Agency single page unclassified graphic released  in mid-May. The graphic illustrates potential threats to the U.S. Homeland that the Golden Dome would guard against. The assessment, called “Golden Dome for America: Current and Future Missile Threats […]

Ukraine’s Pavutina–“Spider Web”–operation points to budget decisions ahead for the U.S. Air Force in hardening its bases in the United States and abroad, especially in the Indo-Pacific, where analysts have pointed to the significant kamikaze drone threat. More than 100 small quadcopter kamikaze drones hidden in trucks took off on cue on Sunday to destroy […]

The Department of Defense, in an online source sought notice May 29, requested industry responses for demilitarizing the Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile motors. The notice on procurement site sam.gov said the Space Systems Command’s Rocket Systems Launch Program is collecting information on vendor capabilities for demilitarization of motors through a method called […]