Category Archives: Budget Industry

Document: Pentagon's 2013 Director, Operational Test & Evaluation Report

Document: Pentagon’s 2013 Director, Operational Test & Evaluation Report

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The Defense Department has released its annual Department of Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) on Jan. 29. The report catalogues major U.S. weapons systems and presents an assessment of the all the service’s acquisitions that can tend to be highly critical.
The service’s often contest the findings of DOT&E as dated criticisms or a reiteration of known ongoing problems with weapon’s programs. Read More

Document: Report on Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle

Document: Report on Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle

A Feb. 01, 2007 test of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) in Alaska. The program was cancelled in 2011. US Marine Corps Photo

A Feb. 01, 2007 test of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) in Alaska. The program was cancelled in 2011. US Marine Corps Photo

The following is from the Jan. 15, 2014 report: Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) and Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC): Background and Issues for Congress. 

On January 6, 2011, after spending approximately $3 billion in developmental funding, the Marine Corps cancelled the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program due to poor reliability demonstrated during operational testing and excessive cost growth. Read More

U.S. Dependence on Space Assets Could be a Liability in a Conflict with China

U.S. Dependence on Space Assets Could be a Liability in a Conflict with China

Launch of Atlas V MUOS-2, July 19, 2013 from Cape Canaveral AFS. US Navy Photo

Launch of Atlas V MUOS-2, July 19, 2013 from Cape Canaveral AFS. US Navy Photo

Challenges the United States faces in space “are on a par with cyber,” the chairman of a key U.S. House panel said as witnesses described China’s advances in an area where “some vulnerabilities we just can’t escape”—acknowledging the two nations are now engaged in a “long-time competition” that cannot be firewalled from other domains. Read More

House Members Push Against Rumored U.S. Carrier Cut

House Members Push Against Rumored U.S. Carrier Cut

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) are in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. in 2012.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) are in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. in 2012.


A bipartisan group of Congressmen have written a letter to the Secretary of Defense expressing their strong support for maintaining a fleet of 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers despite rumors the Pentagon is considering cutting the carrier fleet. Read More

Navy's F-35C Completes Landing Tests Ahead of October Sea Trials

Navy’s F-35C Completes Landing Tests Ahead of October Sea Trials

Navy F-35C test plane CF-3 successfully catches a wire during testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Lockheed Martin Photo

Navy F-35C test plane CF-3 successfully catches a wire during testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Lockheed Martin Photo

The U.S. Navy’s carrier-based version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is nearing October sea trials after completing shore-based testing at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, to ensure compatibility with shipboard arresting gear. Read More

White House Sets Pentagon Budget Rollout Date

White House Sets Pentagon Budget Rollout Date

PentagonThe Pentagon is set to rollout its fiscal year 2015 budget submission on March 4.
“The President’s 2015 Budget will be released on March 4,” wrote Steve Posner, a spokesman for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, in an email statement. Read More

Inside the Navy’s Next Air War

Inside the Navy’s Next Air War

EA-18G Growler assigned to the Zappers of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130 lands on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Aug. 15, 2013. US Navy Photo

EA-18G Growler assigned to the Zappers of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130 lands on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Aug. 15, 2013. US Navy Photo

The Navy has already made some powerful assumptions about its next fight in the air.

It’ll be away from home. It will be against a sophisticated and well-armed enemy. It’ll depend as much on information technology as it will on bombs or missiles. And it’s a fight for which the service isn’t ready. Read More

China Wants a Four Carrier Navy, Maybe

China Wants a Four Carrier Navy, Maybe

An undated photograph onboard the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning during a take-off and landing test. Xinhua News Agency Photo

An undated photograph onboard the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning during a take-off and landing test. Xinhua News Agency Photo

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has designs on a force of four aircraft carriers, according to statements from Chinese officials in Chinese state media that were later deleted. Read More