Defense News

  • The total cost for the continuity of service contract could increase to more than $5 billion. The Navy's deadline for bids for the follow-on contract to NMCI are due Aug. 8.

    August 02, 2012
  • The White House has named Erik Fanning as the new under secretary of the Air Force.

    August 02, 2012
  • Outgoing Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz, who retires in August, spoke to reporters during his last press conference at the Pentagon about the challenges facing the branch amid tensions with Congress and new geo-politics that pose security threats.

    August 01, 2012
  • The developing field of using social media to gather information can provide benefits to the intelligence community, but it also involves challenges. The changing environment of open source intelligence requires agencies and companies plan their approaches carefully.

    August 01, 2012
  • Lt. Gen. Larry Spencer was pinned with his fourth star and was officially sworn in as the Air Force's vice chief of staff. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz did the honors during a Pentagon ceremony Friday. Spencer previously served as the director of force structure, resources and assessment with the Joint Staff.

    July 31, 2012
  • With a tighter defense budget and the threat of sequestration, defense contractors say they may have to lay off thousands of workers and look for business overseas.

    July 31, 2012
  • Small and medium-sized contractors and suppliers receive 75 percent of appropriated dollars for defense or military programs. But these small businesses, who lack the lobbying power of top- tier defense contractors, may suffer more from sequestration than big companies.

    July 30, 2012
  • Two years after U.S. Cyber Command became operational, the military services that provide its cyber forces are beginning to more tightly define their respective responsibilities in the joint cyber environment. Gen. Keith Alexander issued a memo recently giving each of the services a lead cyber role for specific geographic areas of the world.

    July 30, 2012
  • The Navy's chief information officer released an abbreviated business case analysis template in an effort to encourage IT industry personnel to propose ideas focused on cost savings. The CIO must continue to decrease IT spending by 25 percent over the next four years.

    July 24, 2012
  • A civilian employee of the Navy faces up to life in prison for allegedly setting fire to the USS Miami, a nuclear-powered attack submarine while it was dry docked in Maine. The fire caused more than $400 million in damages, mostly to the torpedo room and command area inside the submarine's forward compartment. The Miami was dry docked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine for a complete overhaul.

    July 23, 2012
  • The service is taking a four-pronged approach to improve its procurement process and find savings. A review board looks at all acquisitions to make sure its strategy and contract formation are beneficial. Other agencies, like NASA and DHS, are consolidating more contracts into larger buys.

    July 19, 2012
  • A slate of defense industry executives lined up to testify before the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday, telling lawmakers that the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration would be devastating to their businesses and could lead to mass layoffs. The lack of action by Congress, so far, to avert the cuts has led to a "fog of uncertainty" even now, five months away from when sequestration would take effect, the CEO of Lockheed Martin testified.

    July 18, 2012
  • Just four months after returning from the Middle East, about 5,500 sailors attached to the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and strike group will return to Central Command, a region that includes Iran, to relieve a carrier group currently stationed in the area.

    July 18, 2012
  • Despite planned budget cuts, the military is moving ahead to design a new tactical truck to replace the Humvee, which is vulnerable to roadside bombs and isn't expected meet the demands of future conflicts.

    July 18, 2012

On DoD

On DoD

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Each week, Defense Reporter Jared Serbu speaks with the managers of the federal government's largest department. Subscribe on PodcastOne or Apple Podcasts.