Rep. Mac Thornberry’s proposed acquisition reform bill is a bold and innovative attempt to solve two major problems with how the Department of Defense plans for and buys major weapons systems. (Thornberry introduces a prototype bill for committee discussion later today. The Editor)
Kate Blakeley, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, predicted the budget resolution will face a “rough road” in the House. “In the Senate, both Republicans and Democrats have agreed to move ahead with drafting appropriations bills at the BBA 2015 level and have no interest in re-opening the appropriations battles of last year,” she said. “Unless the House can find a way to agree to the negotiated levels for defense and non-defense spending, the chances of a funding showdown, shutdown or continuing resolution go way up — a disastrous scenario for the Pentagon.”
“They’re using that money largely to preserve force structure,” said Katherine Blakeley, a research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “So that’s the number of people in the Army, the number of people in the Marines — to avoid having to make deeper cuts.”
Patrols such as the one made by the Stennis Carrier Strike Group are intended to assure allies and regional partners that the U.S. is committed to their interests in the region, said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “Nobody in Beijing thinks that the United States doesn't care about what's happening in the South China Sea, but they might tell our allies that,” he said. “They might say, 'Hey, you say the U.S. has your back but we don't ever see them around here.'”
The publication on February 25 of the 2016 Defense White Paper by the Australian government highlights Canberra’s response to evolving trends in the Asia-Pacific region. The white paper, released by the government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after a long gestation, outlines an ambitious modernization program for the Australian Defense Force.
Kate Blakeley, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told Inside Defense in an email that granting any of the specific UPL items, especially increasing weapon system quantities, would have a significant impact to DOD's five-year defense budget plan since the department will still be forced to operate under the 2011 Budget Control Act spending caps if Congress doesn't again raise them in the form of a bipartisan deal.
1667 K Street NW Suite 900
Washington DC, 20006
202-331-7990
info@csbaonline.org
