(Defense News) Lawmakers returning to Washington, D.C., this week are in a race against the clock to reach a budget deal to ease statutory spending caps and avoid a government shutdown starting Oct. 1.
The use of “fake Overseas Contingency Operations” funds is a product of the arbitrary Budget Control Act spending caps and will not disappear until the caps do. Mackenzie Eaglen and Rick Berger write that the only honest solution is to eliminate those caps and begin budgeting based on real needs with real money in real accounts.
Boeing to Demo CH-53K Engine on Chinook
By Gareth Jennings, IHS Jane's 360: "Boeing will demonstrate on its CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopter the more powerful General Electric (GE) T408 engine normally fitted to its Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion competitor, the company said ahead of the Paris Air Show."
By Paul McLeary
Despite Democratic chairman Adam Smith’s best efforts, the defense budget is likely to creep back up to the full $750 billion the administration asked for.
(Defense News) In defense acquisition, “the times, they are a-changin’.”
Even as Congress moves ahead with its spending bills for the Defense Department, the odds remain low that both parties can agree to an overall spending level by the start of the fiscal year. The result? The military’s advantages continue to shrink. In a series of AEI graphics and analysis, Mackenzie Eaglen and Rick Berger show that continuing resolutions (CRs) hurt the military in three main ways, and they explain the CRs’ effects on the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and the Air Force. Learn more here.
Since the March release of the 2020 defense budget, the Pentagon’s decision to purchase new F-15X fighters to replace geriatric F-15Cs has occupied a disproportionate share of defense coverage, analysis, and congressional attending. In a RealClearDefense op-ed, Rick Berger argues that squandering an entire budget cycle debating F-15X or F-35 delays a necessary reckoning about the future of American airpower. Continue reading here.