A Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-35A Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter in 2021. JSDF Photo
Japan’s Ministry of Defense requested on Thursday a record defense budget of $53 billion for Fiscal Year 2024, an increase over FY2023’s budget of $46.8 billion. The increased request reflects the Kishida administration’s intention to boost defense spending and capabilities over the next five years, though the final decision will be made by the Finance Ministry in December. Read More
SM-6 launches from guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones on Aug. 29, 2017. MDA Photo
THE PENTAGON – The rapid drawdown of the U.S. munitions stockpile to feed the demand of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict prompted the Department of Defense to ramp up its acquisition of everything from missiles to artillery shells, senior defense officials told reporters on Monday. Read More
Launch of a SM-6. US Navy Photo
Guam “would absolutely need” the Navy’s SM-6 missile for its defense against a hypersonic missile attack, the program executive for Aegis ballistic missile defense said Thursday. Read More
USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) launches a Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship’s aegis weapons system. OSD and the Navy are modifying the SM-6 to strike surface targets. US Navy Photo
How the Navy repurposed its Standard Missile 6 into an anti-surface weapon should be a model each service and the Pentagon follow to inject new thinking into the way they fight and bring new life into the industrial bases, the former chief of Air Force acquisition said Thursday. Read More
Adm. Phil Davidson, participates in an honors ceremony at the Brunei Ministry of Defence on Sept. 10, 2020. US Navy Photo
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s priorities are paving the way for it to pursue goals laid out in the Navy’s new Navigation Plan, the combatant command’s chief said Tuesday. Read More
The Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) launches a Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship’s Aegis Weapons System in June 2014. US Navy photo.
Multi-year contracts are setting up Raytheon and other defense contractors to report solid financial results during the next few years even if Pentagon spending plateaus or slightly decreases, Raytheon’s chief executive told analysts today.
A medium-range ballistic missile target is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, during Flight Test Standard Missile-27 Event 2 (FTM-27 E2) on Aug. 29 (HST). MDA Photo
Two missiles launched from the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) bullseyed a complex medium-range ballistic missile target in a successful test off Hawaii, the Missile Defense Agency announced on Wednesday. Read More
Secretary of Defense James Mattis
Seapower leaders on the House Armed Services Committee pressed Pentagon leaders Monday night to explain why the president’s 2018 budget request does not put the Navy on a path to have a fleet of 355 ships. Read More
A sailor welds during the ongoing maintinance availability for carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) on June 26, 2014. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated following Pentagon and Navy press briefings on the FY 2018 budget.
THE PENTAGON – The Department of the Navy’s $180-billion budget request sets out to improve overall readiness of the Navy and the Marine Corps while making only modest asks for new aircraft and ships. Read More
A SM-6 Dual I fired from USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) during a Dec. 14, 2016 MDA BMD test. MDA Photo
The Missile Defense Agency proved it could intercept a complicated medium range ballistic missile target with the Navy’s SM-6 missile, the agency announced. Read More
