Defense
A stopgap measure that will fund the federal government for the next six months will create “serious problems” at the Pentagon, particularly if the U.S. Congress does not pass dedicated defense legislation by the end of December. – Defense News
The U.S. Air Force is pushing to more than double the life of its stalwart F-15 Eagles with a series of upgrades. – Aviation Week
In a high-profile speech last week, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Bogdan dropped a bombshell, saying the dismal relationship among stakeholders, the Pentagon’s joint program office and prime contractor Lockheed Martin, is the biggest threat to its success. His remarks visibly disturbed senior Lockheed Martin officials sitting in the front row of the audience at the Air Force Association conference. – Aviation Week
The Pentagon’s budget crunch has pushed defense contractor Sikorsky to close a plant in upstate New York and cut about 570 jobs, the company said Tuesday. – DEFCON Hill
Missile Defense
Improved relations with Russia could be one benefit that derives from a potential move by the Obama administration to implement the findings of recent expert report and cancel plans to deploy ICBM interceptors in Poland, according to missile defense experts. – Global Security Newswire
Nonproliferation
Open Letter: Defining the nonproliferation conditions the United States intends to place on its civil nuclear cooperation in general is essential to protecting U.S. interests, and we believe requiring that the “Gold Standard” be met in all U.S. nuclear cooperative agreements with states that lack nuclear weapons is the necessary set of conditions to achieve that end. Indeed, we believe our government should not only support such requirements, but actively encourage other nuclear supplier states to do so as well. – Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Cybersecurity
The new head of the Air Force said he “isn’t exactly sure” what the Air Force is doing in cyberwarfare, and he will wait to invest in cybersecurity until the service can better understand cyber in general to improve its communication with the other services and itself. – Defense News
The White House is preparing to direct federal agencies to develop voluntary cybersecurity guidelines for owners of power, water and other critical infrastructure facilities, according to people who said they had seen recent drafts of an executive order. – Reuters
