The SPACECOM list includes almost $704 million for three unnamed classified programs, as well as $90 million to fund a trio of classified Navy electronic warfare-based "counterspace" capabilities.
"They're trying to get what they want. They're trying to replace the West and, moreover, the United States in our access and influence across this crucial continent," US Africa Command chief Gen. Michael Langley told lawmakers.
John Ferrari and Charles Rahr, in this op-ed, argue that instead of relying on the Hill to bail it out, the Pentagon may need to embrace its true needs and change where it invests.
"We’re already making good progress on the design and development of the next generation submarine in the UK, where we have more than 1,000 people working on the SSN-AUKUS program and major infrastructure investment underway," BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said.
The bipartisan spending package, released early this morning, increases defense funding by $27 billion over the previous year’s enacted budget and includes a number of key provisions the department had requested.
Columnist Robbin Laird talks naval training with Rear Adm. Max “Pepper” McCoy, commander of Carrier Strike Group 4.
US Southern Command laid out 20 different unfunded budget priorities for fiscal year 2025 in a 28-page list sent to Congress and obtained by Breaking Defense.
Meanwhile, the Air Force’s Vice Chief of Staff Gen James Slife said his service has several “compelling programs in the pipeline” but they are “not quite as technologically mature as some of the Army programs.”
Both plans would shrink the fleet to 280 ships by fiscal 2027, then grow them back from there to a high of 387 ships if one of the options is followed.
If lawmakers could free up $250 million in the FY25 budget, the service could use that to purchase two additional CH-53K helicopters, or $341 million could be used for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle 30mm Cannon (ACV-30) line.
US Indo-Pacific Command’s $11 billion unfunded priority list includes 44 programs, from missiles to maritime mines.
"So that's one thing I would encourage the [Australian] government to do, is be transparent as possible on what the plans ahead are so industry can can respond and be ready," Northrop Grumman executive Tom Wears said.
Judith Collins, New Zealand’s Minister of Defence, tells Breaking Defense that no matter what happens with AUKUS, her government is "looking at as much interoperability" as possible with Australia.
A precise cost for the submarines was not provided, but the Ministry of Defense told parliamentarians in a letter that the "investment budget" is €5.6 billion ($6.1 billion).
From Operation Properity Guardian to Operation Aspides, dozens of countries are militarily active in the Red Sea, and sometimes wires get crossed.