Strategic Command will now oversee nuclear communications

On the same subject

• 

  November 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Pentagon expected to increase Space Force funding in coming years

  Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — U.S. Space Force leadership is confident the new service's budget will increase in the coming years as the Pentagon continues to prioritize spending on space systems, according to the head of the Space Force's main acquisitions body. “If you thought space was going to be a priority in a kind of one-and-done way, that's not clearly what's been happening, right?” Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, said during the virtual 6th annual Schriever Space Futures Forum. “So three years in a row budgets have gone to the Hill with foundational changes to the space budget.” That's despite the fact that space systems and their supporting equipment are very expensive. “ Everybody knows the space enterprise is a really expensive one, even with the reductions in cost that we've seen over the past couple decades. Launch services, space vehicles, ground segments — everybody knows they ain't cheap, right?” Thompson said. The real shift in prioritizing spending on space came with the fiscal 2019 budget request, with the Pentagon declaring space a war-fighting domain. “I think we made some real progress. As we acknowledged space as a war-fighting domain, we had some really strong shifts in the budget,” Thompson said. For fiscal 2021, the Department of the Air Force requested $15.4 billion for the new Space Force. That's $800 million more than the $14.6 billion the department requested for that same enterprise in fiscal 2020, according to the Air Force's own calculations. “The '21 [Program Objective Memorandum] was another landmark event. It was not only the first POM approved by the Chief of Space Operations ... but during the cycle the Deputy's Management Action Group, [or DMAG] ... the folks that advise the secretary of defense on investment, continued to label space as one of the big strategic areas that DoD needs to address,” Thompson explained. And while the fiscal 2022 request has not been finalized or released yet, Thompson said it will include a marked increase in spending on space. “We plused up the space portfolio significantly to address users' needs,” he explained. “I can't give you the exact dollars and obviously it's all pre-decisional. But the DMAG and many other DoD leaders are clearly sending a message that across the [Future Years Defense Program], the importance of the space enterprise is growing and needs to grow further.” Even further out, Thompson noted the fiscal 2023 request will continue the military's trend of prioritizing space in the budget. “For the '23 POM, which many of you know we're already working, we're trying to take an unprecedented enterprise approach to where we take the force design that we need along with the operational requirements associated with it, and we pair that up with the acquisition programs that are required to deliver the war-fighting capability that Gen. [John] Raymond and our combatant command, Gen. [John] Dickinson, are absolutely demanding,” Thompson said. He added that the Space Force's funding strategy will balance innovation, international and commercial partnerships, and the need to rapidly provide capabilities to troops. Thompson pointed to the Space Force's recently released planning guidance as shaping that strategy. Thompson credited the Space Force's flexibility to maneuver within budget discussions to the service's lean staff, something that's been one of Raymond's top priorities in establishing the new branch of the armed services. “That collaboration, as many of you know, within the Department of the Air Force or in any large service, is really, really hard because so much of the budget is set,” he explained. “We as a service, though, have a little bit more trade space. The chief of space operations has a smaller, more nimble team. There's not as many spoons banging on highchairs demanding something that they've always been given. And so determining where to spend the next space dollar is really, really exciting, and it's a team effort between operators, acquirers and the entire small, nimble team that is Space Force.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/11/20/pentagon-expected-to-increase-space-force-funding-in-coming-years/

• 

  February 2, 2021 | International, Naval

  Submarine maker to add jobs amid $39 billion backlog in work

  By: The Associated Press GROTON, Conn. — General Dynamics Electric Boat plans to add 2,200 jobs this year in Connecticut and Rhode Island as it tackles a $39 billion backlog of work, the submarine maker's top executive said Monday. Kevin Graney, Electric Boat's president, made the announcement during a video briefing for stakeholders. He said the company is facing the largest backlog of work in its history, with orders to build two new ballistic missile submarines and 19 new attack submarines, 11 of which are currently under construction. The company added more than 2,000 jobs a year ago, much of it at the company's Quonset Point site in Rhode Island. The new jobs will include shipyard workers, engineers and support staff, Graney said, and the firm expects to be in a “stable hiring mode pretty much for the next decade.” “We're going to need to sustain the Rhode Island workforce as we grow the Connecticut workforce,” he said. Electric Boat employs more than 17,000 people, including about 12,000 at its Groton shipyard and more than 4,000 in Rhode Island. Congress increased funding for submarine programs from about $11.1 billion during the last fiscal year to $11.6 billion this fiscal year. Members of Connecticut's all-Democrat congressional delegation, who took part in the video conference, said the defense contractor can expect to continue receiving work under the Biden administration. “It may be unmanned as well as manned weapons platforms, but the future of the submarine is critically important,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2021/02/01/submarine-maker-to-add-jobs-amid-39-billion-backlog-in-work/

• 

  June 20, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Pentagone : La Turquie recevra des avions F-35 jeudi

  Le porte-parole du Pentagone, Mike Andrews, a déclaré que la cérémonie d'inauguration se tiendra au Fort de Lockheed au Texas, comme prévu le 21 juin. Les Etats-Unis s'apprêtent à livrer le premier lot de deux avions de chasse F-35 à la Turquie lors d'une cérémonie qui se tiendra jeudi au Texas, malgré l'adoption par le Sénat d'un projet de loi bloquant la livraison, a annoncé mercredi le Pentagone. Dans son communiqué, le porte-parole du Pentagone, Mike Andrews, a annoncé que la cérémonie d'inauguration se déroulerait au Fort Lockheed, au Texas, le 21 juin, en précisant que les deux avions de combat F-35 seraient transférés à Luke Airforce Base, en Arizona où des pilotes turcs devraient recevoir une formation sur le pilotage des jets tout au long de 2019. Au total, 12 pays ont participé au programme de fabrication de F-35. Parmi les neuf pays qui ont participé au développement conjoint de l'avion de combat, tous les États ont déjà commencé à recevoir les avions à réaction F-35 à l'exception de la Turquie, du Canada et du Danemark. Le Sénat américain a adopté lundi dernier un projet de loi sur la politique de défense d'un montant de 716 milliards de dollars, bloquant ainsi la livraison d'avions de combat interarmées F-35 à la Turquie. Le projet de loi affirmait que l'achat du système de missiles S-400 en provenance de Russie augmentait les tensions et les risques pour l'alliance de l'OTAN. Il exige également la libération du pasteur américain Andrew Brunson, qui fait face à des accusations de terrorisme en Turquie. Avant de pouvoir être légiféré, le projet de loi doit être concilié avec celui déjà adopté par la Chambre des représentants. Cette mesure de compromis doit ensuite être adoptée par les deux chambres et signée par Trump. https://www.redaction.media/articles/pentagone-turquie-recevra-avions-f-35-jeudi/