Defense
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta ordered the Air Force Tuesday to curtail flights of its F-22 Raptor fighter jet and accelerate the installation of backup oxygen generators in response to pilot complaints of wooziness and fainting spells in the cockpit. – Washington Post
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said seven more airmen who work with the F-22 have come forward to report cases of hypoxia-like symptoms — a couple of them flight surgeons who provide medical treatment to aviators and ground crews. – Military Times
The Obama administration threatened Tuesday to veto the House version of the Defense authorization bill that’s headed to the floor this week over restrictions on implementing the New START treaty, reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal and limiting the transfer of Guantanamo detainees. – DEFCON Hill
A powerful U.S. House defense spending panel has recommended adding more than $5.3 billion to the Pentagon’s procurement accounts in 2013 to buy more aircraft, ships, vehicles and weapons, according to a report. – Defense News
The Pentagon could draw the short straw after Election Day, when Congress returns for a lame-duck session ripe for compromises with the White House on a number of spending and tax measures. – DOTMIL
The Pentagon should brace for another $250 billion or more in cuts even if sequestration does not occur and must revolutionize how and what it buys, warned Hoss Cartwright, former vice-chairman of the Joint Staff, in a speech that savaged sacred cows from the Joint Strike Fighter to cybersecurity to the AirSea Battle concept. – AOL Defense
According to an official story from the weekend, Lt. Gen. Jim Kowalski, the head of Global Strike Command, says the B-52 is set to receive a round of upgrades that will help both the airmen inside each one and also the top-level commanders moving them around on their maps – DoD Buzz
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Tuesday to confirm the nominations of three undersecretaries of defense — for acquisition, policy and personnel — and four other top civilian posts. – Military Times
Josh Rogin reports: The Defense Department and Congress are playing chicken over $600 billion of mandatory defense cuts identified by a process known as “sequestration,” but a compromise probably won’t surface until after the November elections, according to former top Obama defense official Michèle Flournoy. – The Cable
Nuclear Weapons
Gen. James E. Cartwright, the retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former commander of the United States’ nuclear forces, is adding his voice to those who are calling for a drastic reduction in the number of nuclear warheads below the levels set by agreements with Russia. – New York Times
Missile Defense
House appropriators are taking a far less aggressive stance on national missile defense programs than their colleagues in the House Armed Services Committee, either matching the Pentagon’s funding requests or providing smaller spending increases. – Defense News
The War
Two lawmakers — a Democrat and a Republican — are pushing a bill to update a Cold War-era law on propaganda efforts by federal agencies that critics say hinders the U.S. war of ideas against Muslim extremists. – Washington Times
This month’s revival of terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay underscores President Obama’s reliance on counterterrorism tools he inherited from George W. Bush. – Washington Times
The heads of the House Armed Services Committee are squaring off ahead of ranking member Adam Smith’s (D-Wash.) plan to introduce an amendment on the House floor this week that would roll back indefinite-detention laws. – DEFCON Hill
House and Senate Democrats are clashing over whether to bar the military from detaining terrorism suspects on U.S. soil. – DEFCON Hill
