News
New Budget Deal Still Leaves Big DoD Funding Gap
Capitol Hill's budget deal is good news for the Pentagon.
No Clear Strategy On China, Experts Say
No real US strategy exists right now for dealing with China, even as the country challenges the territorial status quo of nearby Asian waters, several experts said Wednesday.
Budget Deal Seen as Boon to Pentagon. So Why Wouldn’t Veterans Be Happy?
The budget deal released to much fanfare at a Capitol Hill press conference this week, if approved, would allow the Pentagon to breathe a sigh of relief, since it would side-step the most dire of the threatened across-the-board cuts to its bottom line/.../
U.S. Bomber Cost Could Reach $81 Billion
The Air Force's new long-range bomber may cost as much as $81 billion for the 100 planes planned, 47 percent more than the $55 billion sticker price the service has listed.
The Future of America’s Nuclear Deterrent
America’s strategic nuclear deterrent is nearing a crossroads. On one hand, the size, shape and purpose of the U.S. nuclear arsenal are all up for debate. For over two decades Washington has been shedding excess weapons that were a legacy of the Cold War. Senior officials today are also much more concerned with proliferation and the possibility of nuclear terrorism than great-power brinkmanship or the prospect of a massive nuclear exchange. The confluence of declining defense budgets and looming recapitalization costs has made nuclear programs a potential target for funding cuts.
Pentagon Fiscal Chief Robert Hale: ‘I am nervous’
/.../The next two weeks running up to Thanksgiving are pivotal if Congress is to have any chance of restoring some order for the Pentagon and a broken appropriations process. But what’s most remarkable is how lawmakers seem to be backing into decisions without first having a full debate over what level of defense the U.S. needs going forward.