Defense budget, NDAA, acquisition and Pentagon policy.
Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia ran strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs. Days before the midterms, the Pentagon says he shared classified information on Iran and Ukraine with reporters.
The new estimate is $9.6 billion higher than Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s July figure and still leaves out the cost of fixing bases hit by Iranian missiles.
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin agreed on a 10-year framework for at least 850 U.S. F-35s, but there is no price tag and nothing is binding until Congress grants multiyear authority and funds fiscal 2027.
A new report to Congress puts the Air Force’s moderate-risk fighter requirement at 1,509 jets by 2035. The service is 47 jets below its legal minimum today, and 14 of its FY27 F-35s hinge on a reconciliation bill now in doubt.
SMDC’s Lt. Gen. John Rafferty says an Army air defense unit has been earmarked for Golden Dome. The bigger problem: nearly all of the shield’s $17.5 billion 2027 request sits in a reconciliation bill Congress hasn’t moved.
The CBO says the Iran war has cost the Pentagon about $38 billion, but that total excludes damage to US bases. Five Senate Armed Services Democrats want CENTCOM’s classified estimate released by Nov. 2.
The framework deal with BAE Systems covers APKWS laser-guidance kits, which turn unguided rockets into precision weapons for about $35,000 a shot.
The missile shield was paid for outside the regular budget, so the stopgap that started Oct. 1 gives it nothing. Senators from both parties want that fixed.
That’s on top of a $53.6 billion drone line already in the 2027 budget, and less than a third of that buys drones outright.
Patriot, THAAD and SM-3 makers signed billions in new deals in five days this month. CSIS says getting back to prewar stockpiles could still take up to four years.