Defense
Defense contractors already are preparing for the layoffs and plant closures that will occur if Congress fails to reach a deal on the federal deficit this year, triggering $600 billion in automatic Pentagon spending cuts. – Washington Times
The House got through 92 amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Thursday and early Friday morning, but finally adjourned shortly after 1:30 a.m. and planned to return later Friday morning for votes and consideration of the last 50. – The Hill’s Floor Action Blog
A handful of Democrats put forward amendments that would have canceled or cut funding to weapons so that more money would be available for deficit reduction during House debate of the 2013 defense authorization bill May 17. All of the amendments were voted down. – Defense News
Each American taxpayer’s share of the cost of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan would be calculated and posted on the U.S. Defense Department’s website, under an amendment to the 2013 defense authorization act passed May 17 by the House on a voice vote. – Defense News
In an era of shrinking budgets, the military’s future is less about buying new hardware than making better use of what it already has, the armed forces’ top officer said [Wednesday], and that kind of change requires focusing not on equipment but on people. – AOL Defense
Boeing is paring its workforce, consolidating facilities and cutting overhead to prepare for the “distinct possibility” that U.S. defense spending will be cut by a total of $1 trillion over the next decade, the head of the company’s defense business said May 15. – Reuters
The War
Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney, is set to receive the Silver Star for his actions in a 13-hour battle in Afghanistan that left about 270 Taliban fighters dead, without a single U.S. or Afghan casualty. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to kill every last one of these bastards who dare raise their hand against us.’ – Air Force Times
Al-Qaeda’s core organization in Pakistan was staggered last year by the death of Osama bin Laden and the toll of CIA drone strikes. But in an interview, [outgoing NCTC Director Anthony] Liepman said that predictions of al-Qaeda’s demise seem increasingly premature. – Washington Post
The Obama administration is weighing policy changes that would lift a tattered veil of secrecy from its controversial campaign of drone strikes, a recognition that the expanding program has become a regular part of U.S. global counterterrorism operations. – Wall Street Journal
A U.S. District Court in New York has blocked provisions in last year’s Defense authorization bill that allow for military detention for terror suspects, throwing a wrench in the debate that will take place on the House floor Thursday. – DEFCON Hill
NATO
Patrick Keller and Gary Schmitt, Nicholas Burns and David Manning, and French Air Force Gen. Stephane Abrial assess the future of NATO ahead of the Chicago Summit
Missile Defense
The House is expected to vote this week on a bill that calls on the Pentagon to start on an East Coast Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system site…But before any of that becomes law, it will have to be hashed out in the Senate, where the leaders of the subcommittee in charge of missile systems are far from mutually assured. – Aviation Week
A top Republican in the Senate urged President Barack Obama on Tuesday to refrain from giving Russia and China any assurances about possible limits to U.S. missile defenses, days before a NATO summit in Chicago. – Reuters
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) writes: Now is the time for Congress to step up and do what the president’s budget does not — fund a missile-defense system to protect the U.S. Fiscal responsibility must mean more than just measuring which political party has the bigger budget ax — especially on issues of national defense. - Politico
Law of the Sea Treaty
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a hearing next week on the decades-old international Law of the Sea Treaty, confirming the Senate’s desire to try again for ratification after failing five years ago. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Cybersecurity
The White House moved quickly Thursday to name Michael Daniel as President Obama’s cybersecurity adviser to replace retiring Howard Schmidt. – AOL Defense
The United States is woefully unprepared to counter a “catastrophic cyber-attack” that’s expected within 12 to 24 months, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said Thursday. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
