The makers of America’s rockets and satellites “are still stumbling on fundamentals too often,” said Gary Payton, former astronaut and the top Air Force man on space acquisition. Payton’s comments seem to indicate a continuing trend of shoddy quality control among those whose toughest job is turning out top quality parts and software and making sure they work and fit well.

1295216http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/02/05/payton-slams-space-firms-quality/Payton+Slams+Space+Firms%27+Quality2010-02-05+17%3A44%3A24Colin+Clark

The Army plans to spend at least $7 billion over the next five years to develop its new Ground Combat Vehicle and is determined to get a jump on the project, with $934 million slotted for work in 2011 and nearly $2 billion the next year in what is clearly an accelerated development. The GCV will replace the FCS manned ground vehicles, cancelled last year, as the base model for future combat vehicles; the Army has said the initial vehicle will be an infantry carrier

1293626http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/02/04/armys-pouring-7b-into-gcv/Army%27s+Pouring+%247B+Into+GCV2010-02-04+20%3A54%3A59Greg+Grant

Reviews of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review are pouring in from Washington’s defense cognoscenti and so far they come with a strong tilt towards disappointed. The lack of any real news or major program or policy shifts has led a number of defense wonks to question the value of the whole QDR process.

1289922http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/02/04/qdr-garners-poor-reviews/QDR+Garners+Poor+Reviews2010-02-04+16%3A32%3A40Greg+Grant

The Obama administration’s engagement policy and Defense Department budget cuts portend “an America in decline,” an approach the country must not accept, one of the top defense Republican lawmakers said today in a speech billed as a major policy address. “A defense budget in decline portends an America in decline,” Rep. Buck McKeon, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee says in a speech written for delivery at the conservative Heritage Foundation this morning.

1292011http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/02/04/gop-sounds-trumpet-spend-more-engage-less/GOP+Sounds+The+Call%3A+Spend+More%2C+Engage+Less2010-02-04+14%3A10%3A46Colin+Clark

The much-debated carrier fighter gap stretches about 100 planes wide in 2018. That is what Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the House Armed Services Committee today. That is less than half of the Navy’s estimate, given to Congress last year. The Navy has pretty much stuck with a figure of 243 aircraft or, as some lawmakers have it, 48 planes a year.

1290840http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/02/03/fighter-gap-shrinks-to-100-planes/Fighter+Gap+%27Shrinks%27+To+100+Planes+2010-02-03+22%3A25%3A39Colin+Clark