Tag Archives: Pentagon

House Panel to Defense: Simplify Acquisition Process

Zachary Fryer-Biggs, Federal Times. At a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday the House Armed Services Committee’s Panel on Business Challenges in the Defense Industry unveiled its 44 recommendations on how the government can improve the business environment. The 121-page report comes after roughly six months of hearings, field forums and research by the committee into how the DoD can work with and help preserve the defense industrial base in the face of budget cuts and other obstacles to doing business with the DoD. They outline a series of recommendations from increasing the acquisition workforce to new ways to ensure better…

U.S. Defense Companies Should Remain Strong if No Sequestration

Marcus Weisgerber, Defense News. Defense department and Congressional leaders told an investors conference last week that those companies and programs that have survived the current budget cuts are more than likely to survive the next five years, barring the dreaded sequestration when all bets are off. Dr. Ashton Carter, Deputy Secretary of Defense and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash) both echoed the sentiment that they don’t believe sequestration will occur and that the market should be settling for the defense industry.

Pentagon Contends with Surplus of Trucks

Marjorie Censer, Capital Business, Washington Post. The military rushed to buy tens of thousands of…

UK Surveillance Drone Industry Plans PR Effort to Counter Negative Image

Ryan Gallagher, The Guardian UK. The UK’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association is said to be launching a campaign to improve the image of UAV’s in the country in hopes of distancing the peaceful use of remotely piloted aircraft from those in the war zones. This is being considered as the members of the group work with the British government to open airspace to UAV flights using special air corridors and remote locations. Public distrust of the systems is seen as a major hurdle to the effort so there are hopes of using them for clearly humanitarian and law…

Marines, Lockheed Handed Big Victory as Panetta Ends F-35 Probation

John Bennett, U.S. News and World Report DOTMIL. Secretary Panetta took a trip out to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland to meet the folks working on testing the F-35 Lightning series of aircraft and announced he plans to lift the “probation” on the F-35B set by his predecessor. Sighting great progress in the last year bringing the Vertical Takeoff version of the aircraft in line with its sister models, Panetta gave a major boost to the embattled program and the Marine Corps’ hopes for a replacement for its aging jet fleet. 

Pentagon Said to Propose Ending $6.8 Billion Missile,…

U.S. Industry Associations Release Bleak Report

Zachary Fryer-Biggs, Defense News. The three major industry associations in the defense sector released a report on Friday based on questionnaires to their members outlining a host of damaging effects to the defense industry based on the planned budget cuts. The Aerospace Industries Association, National Defense Industrial Association and Professional Services Council outlined three major risks: The closing of production lines and loss of skilled labor; reduction or elimination of industry investment in non-contracted innovation; and the outright departure of some firms from the industry all together. The report offers suggestions on how to mitigate the worst-case scenarios, including not frontloading the cuts so there…