The annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit will feature speeches from big players in the nuclear weapons complex such as National Nuclear Security Administration head Brandon Williams, newly sworn in U.S. Strategic Command commander Adm. Richard Correll, and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) whose state houses silos for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The agenda will also feature appearances from Scott Pappano, NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator, and Matthew Napoli, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.
The 2026 Nuclear Deterrence Summit will take place Jan. 26-28 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.
After a White House executive order calling on defense executives to prioritize increasing production capacity over stock buybacks and paying dividends, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) CEO Chris Kastner told reporters Jan. 8 his company is on “the right path” to meeting the Trump administration’s objectives.
“There’s been a consistent theme across the administration about investing more and there’s opportunity for growth. We’ve been investing more. I expect us to grow more and I expect to be held accountable to meet the commitments I make in my contracts,” Kastner said. “When I read the executive order, it felt like, ‘Okay, we’re doing the right stuff. We’re going down the right path. I don’t have to do anything significant different than what I’m already doing.’”
Kastner said HII stopped doing share buybacks a year ago “because the requirements for investment in the shipyards are so great.”
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) cancelled the publication of a draft environmental report for public comment on plutonium use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a local publication reported.
According to Livermore Vine, NNSA intended to release the draft, and said so in a notice of intent January 2025, for comments and feedback from the public. The report discusses the “Enhanced Plutonium Facility Utilization at LLNL” project, which proposes increasing plutonium usage for research and experiments at the lab.
A November notice by NNSA said given regulatory changes it would no longer publish the draft for public consideration or host any relevant hearings. The notice said without the public comment period, the final report is expected to be published early 2026, along with NNSA’s record of decision. The notice also said this way NNSA can “fulfill its current and potential future national security requirements in a timely manner.”
The top lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services Committee have backed President Trump’s call to increase the defense budget to $1.5 trillion in 2027.
“We commend President Trump for committing to a $1.5 trillion defense budget. This is exactly the kind of investment it will take to rebuild our military and restore American leadership on the world stage,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the HASC and SASC leaders respectively, said in a statement. “America faces intensifying global threats from China, Russia, Iran, and narco-terrorists. This substantial increase in defense spending is therefore both timely and essential. We are also leading by example by bringing U.S. defense spending to approximately 5 percent of our GDP, which is what we expect from our NATO allies.”
Trump Jan. 7 announced in a social media post he would push for the massive increase in defense spending in order to “build the ‘Dream Military.’” A $1.5 trillion defense topline would likely represent a more than 50 percent increase in spending, with Congress having yet to pass final fiscal 2026 defense appropriations legislation but working toward potentially settling on a figure around $900 billion. Rogers and Wicker said the large defense spending boost could be allocated toward “accelerated shipbuilding and aircraft production, a modernized arsenal and innovative technologies that ensure our warfighters remain unmatched.”
The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is now a Department of Defense-approved industry partner, DOE said last week.
The Pentagon’s SkillBridge program allows service members up to a six-month internship paid for by the Department of Defense, according to a Jan. 8 press release. “SkillBridge offers the perfect opportunity for the laboratory to experience the skills, knowledge and leadership of a service member prior to their departure from the military,” said Mark Davis, deputy Laboratory director of Operations and a Navy veteran.
The Pentagon’s Skillbridge website encourages employers to “tap into the unmatched work ethos service members bring to the workforce.”