President Donald J. Trump vetoed the 2021 defense policy bill on Dec. 23, calling it a “gift to China and Russia,” with no further explanation.
The Senate passed the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill 84-13 on Dec. 11 after a bumpy few weeks for the key annual legislation. “We must protect freedom, democracy and peace, and support our troops. This is the heart of the National Defense Authorization Act, and ...
As the United States closes out its participation in the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, some in government are starting to consider what might come next for the Air Force unit that has handled those foreign surveillance flights for decades. Lawmakers earlier this month released a ...
A top space policy official in the Department of the Air Force said Dec. 10 he plans to serve in his role until next spring, unless the Trump or Biden administrations nominate someone to fill his post sooner. Shawn Barnes is performing the duties of ...
The Air Force's top weapons buyer is worried the top-secret Next Generation Air Dominance program might become an “unintended casualty” of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers in the final draft of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill are cutting $70 million from the NGAD program for ...
Lawmakers want to quash the prospect of buying new armed overwatch planes for special operations troops or the Air Force in the next few years, as part of the final draft of the 2021 defense policy bill released this month. They seek to block SOCOM ...
House-Senate Conferees require a larger Air Force in the final version of the fiscal 2021 defense bill, directing the service to build the 386 combat squadrons it said it needs to meet the National Defense Strategy, and specifically raising the bomber fleet to 225 aircraft, ...
The Air Force has four months to figure out exactly what it wants the Advanced Battle Management System to do, as part of a proposed set of congressional oversight requirements. ABMS is the service’s sweeping effort to connect its platforms, not only as attack assets ...
Every year, Congress and the military debate which combat assets should head to the boneyard and which have more life left in them. Lawmakers often opt to keep Air Force systems that bring jobs to their districts, which complicates matters as the service looks to ...
As the final days of 2020 count down, House and Senate negotiators have agreed on sweeping defense policy legislation that offers nearly $732 billion to the armed forces in fiscal 2021. “The FY21 NDAA focuses on maintaining the strength of our defense enterprise as our ...
The drama of the twin Georgia Senate runoff elections looming in January could seep into negotiations over the 2021 defense policy bill, a key GOP lawmaker warned Nov. 17. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), who is retiring this term as ranking member of the House Armed ...
The Senate Armed Services Committee appears likely to maintain its status quo, as the prospect of Democratic control of the Senate has dimmed after Election Day. SASC Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) won reelection by wide margins on ...