On Hill, Familiar Faces Remain in Key Places

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Afghanistan, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Policy, Space

The U.S. Capitol sits behind the colorful lights of the United States Botanic Garden earlier this week. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The U.S. defense industry scored two key victories this week when House Republican announced two industry allies will retain the chairmen seats on the Armed Services and Appropriations committees.

Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Kent., will again serve as Appropriations Committee chairman. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., considered by many in Washington the defense sector’s top congressional ally, has been selected to again chair the Armed Services panel. McKeon’s No. 2 will be another defense industry ally, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, who will be the HASC vice chairman.

A late-September Defense News analysis of campaign contribution data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics revealed McKeon was the top recipient of campaign cash from the biggest five U.S. weapons manufacturers, and Rogers was among the leaders.

Cool Drones

By Marcus Weisgerber in Intercepts

http://www.hulu.com/watch/426530

OK, it’s been out there for a while, but it’s just too good not to post. Check out Saturday Night Live’s take on the U.S. Defense Department’s drone program.

Defense News Gets a Mention on MSNBC’s ‘Daily Rundown’

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, International, Policy Tags: ,

Defense News got a mention on the Nov. 28 edition of MSNBC's "Daily Rundown." (Screenshot created from MSNBC video by Defense News staff.)

Any political junkies who stop by Intercepts regularly might have noticed something different this morning on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown,” a morning political magazine and talk show.

Early in the Nov. 28 episode, Chuck Todd was discussing the political machinations involved in the ongoing flap between President Obama, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and three GOP senators.

Todd then began reading from a Defense News article posted the previous day based on comments made by one of those senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. (Around the 7:00 mark of this clip.) More

No Major U.S. Defense Sector CEO to Attend White House Meeting

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Marine Corps, Navy, Policy Tags: ,

The exterior view of New York Stock Exchange building in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

President Obama will meet with the bosses of over a dozen of the largest American corporations later this afternoon (Nov. 28) at the White House. But there will be no CEO of a major U.S. weapons manufacturer in the room.

Among the topics Obama and the 14 CEOs will reportedly discuss is the uncertainty the American business sector is experiencing due to the threat of the so-called fiscal cliff, which includes $500 billion in across-the-board defense cuts that are set to take effect Jan. 2.

Many executives backed Obama’s 2012 opponent, Mitt Romney, meaning the high-level meeting is an attempt by both sides to at least seem like they’re in the bridge-mending business as U.S. global markets are showing signs of unease amid the fiscal cliff hysteria.

But Obama today will not hear a plea about what those Pentagon cuts would mean for the U.S. industrial base. Defense executives, Pentagon officials and hawkish lawmakers have warned the 10-year cuts to planned Pentagon spending could mean large weapon manufacturers — and more likely, key suppliers of high-tech components — could be forced to stop making some things that the military needs. More

Photo of the Day: Nov. 28, 2012

By Zachary Fryer-Biggs in Intercepts, Photo of the Day Tags: ,

Tax Activist Grover Norquist Discusses Tax Policy At The Newseum November 28, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty)

Meet the man who may be responsible for the past failures to achieve a grand bargain, and who may be pushed aside as the GOP backs away from its total opposition to new tax revenue. More

Austerity Watch: A Sign Of The Times

By John T. Bennett in Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, Policy Tags:

Patrons of the Capitol Market must now pay extra if they really need those two spoons while eating lunch at their desks. (Photo by John T. Bennett, Defense News)

Your Defense News and Intercepts man on the Hill typically roams the Capitol campus for information and quotes. But when the news tank runs low, he goes roaming for some fuel.

On a recent grub run, your correspondent noticed the above sign posted on the condiment and utensil stand in the Capitol Market, located in the basement under the House chamber. The sign was not there just a few weeks ago.

Amid a slow in most federal spending, including for the Pentagon, and with more federal spending cuts to come, it truly is a sign of the times.

Sen. Levin Hopeful Chamber Will Take Up NDAA on Tuesday

By John T. Bennett in Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Policy

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., follows Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., into an elevator in the Capitol. (Photo by John T. Bennett, Defense News)

After months of delay, the U.S. Senate might finally take up a key Pentagon policy bill.

“I hope so,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told Defense News on Tuesday (Nov. 27) when asked if the upper chamber would begin work on his panel’s bill later that day. More

Photo of the Day, Nov. 27 2012 – Hendrix birthday edition

By Aaron Mehta in Army, Intercepts, Photo of the Day

Pvt James Hendrix,1962, Fort Campbell (Army photo)

 

Today’s photo of the day was actually suggested by Army  Deputy Director for Media Relations George Wright. Recognize that guitar player?

It’s  one James Marshall Hendrix, better known as Jimi, performing at Fort Campbell in 1962. Today would be Hendrix’s 70th birthday. Join us below the jump for some of his hits. More

Today in military history: Scuttling of the French Fleet at Toulon, 27 Nov. 1942

By Christopher P. Cavas in Intercepts, Today in Military History

Today in military history: Scuttling of the French Fleet at Toulon, 27 Nov. 1942

Seventy years ago today, sailors of the French Navy defied the Germans and scuttled their fleet at the main Mediterranean base of Toulon in southern France. The scuttlings took place as German armored formations entered Toulon and the naval arsenal before dawn in a frantic attempt to capture the fleet intact. In some cases, German soldiers boarded the ships even as the French crews set off explosives, forcing French and German alike to abandon ship. Twelve Frenchmen were killed by Germans during the operation.

More

X-47B unmanned test aircraft hoisted aboard ship for first sea tests (updated)

By Christopher P. Cavas in Intercepts

Time lapse video: 

One of two Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft was barged down from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and arrived on Nov. 26 at Norfolk naval base, Va., where it was promptly hoisted aboard the aircraft carrier USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75).  This marks the first time one of the stealthy aircraft has been on board a ship.

TRUMAN was fitted during a recent overhaul with gear and software to operate the X-47B, the first jet unmanned strike aircraft designed for carrier operation. Extensive carrier deck handling tests will be run before flying operations, scheduled to take place in early December.

The carrier will undertake three weeks of tests with the X-47B, both in port at Norfolk and underway along the Atlantic coast. Engineers and sailors will use a hand-held control display unit to control the aircraft moving along the carrier’s deck.

Meanwhile, at Pax River, engineers are scheduled to fly the other X-47B in late November, partly to prepare for the shipboard tests.

After operating the X-47B, the TRUMAN will conduct other exercises before deploying to the U.S. Central Command region early in 2013.

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