As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates prepares to go to China and President Obama prepares to host Chinese leader Hu Jintao, it is important that they recognize that the Chinese leadership has an increasingly capable military at its disposal. Worse, the factors shaping that military remain opaque.

The U.S. Navy gave itself along with Lockheed Martin and Austal USA a last minute holiday gift today, giving both companies contracts to build 10 of their respective Littoral Combat Ships.

Earlier in the week we gave you our rundown of the top DoD policy and procurement stories of the last year. Now, it’s time to look ahead at what may be in store for defense programs to see who will win and who will likely feel the sting of budget cuts.

As 2010 draws to a close we here at DoDBuzz thought we’d put together a list of some of the top stories in defense policy and acquisition over the past year. Hmm, guess what one recurring theme is; declining budgets.

In the coming years, the Pentagon should look to cutting troop strength to pre-9–11 levels, slash redundant and poorly performing programs while reevaluating the services’ core missions, all in an effort to shave 10 percent or more off the Defense Department’s expenses, members of an influential Washington think tank argued this week.

The U.S. Senate this afternoon ratified the latest START treaty by a vote of 71 to 26 following weeks of debate on the issue during which republicans tried to block the treaty on grounds that it would tie the United States’ hands with regards to missile defense and upgrading its nuclear arsenal

The House today passed the Senate’s amendment to the 2011 defense authorization bill paving the way for the $725 billion defense bill to be sent to the President’s desk.

Congress last night passed a new Continuing Resolution set to fund the government at FY-10 levels through March 4, keeping one controversial DoD program alive while tweaking and slightly expanding another.

The Senate late today passed its version of the Continuing Resolution set to fund the government at FY-10 levels through March 4. The last minute funding legislation is now off to House where it will be voted on before the current temporary spending measure expires at midnight.

While both sides of the F-35 alternate engine debate have remained fairly quiet as Congress tries to write last minute defense funding legislation, a GE spokesman today weighed in on what the Continuing Resolution means for the F136 alternate engine. Bottom line: While a CR doesn’t give full funding for the F136 throughout FY-11, it’s not likely to kill the program, either.

The U.S. Navy’s next-generation electromagnetic catapult today performed its first ever live aircraft launch when an F/A-18E Super Hornet was shot from the system at the Navy’s Lakehurst Air Engineering Center in New Jersey.

They did it. But Not Quite. Late Friday night, the U.S. Senate passed the continuing resolution funding the Pentagon at FY-10 levels through the 21st. This came a day after Senate democrats dropped their effort to push through a trillion dollar spending package for FY-11 that included $667.7 billion in defense cash.

Lawmakers are scrambling to put together a continuing resolution after Senate democrats abandoned their effort to pass a trillion dollar omnibus spending package for FY-11 containing $667.7 billion in defense funds.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office just release the per plane costs for last month’s contract for 32 initial production jets. While each airplane came in at well over $100 million, this price does indeed represent a downward trend in the cost of the plane.

Amidst all the hoopla over the Afghan war review yesterday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believes Congress now has the insight it needs to feel comfortable approving the latest START treaty.

The Obama administration today tried to paint a picture of an Afghan-Pakistan strategy that’s working, citing steady yet tenuous improvements in areas where NATO forces are “clearing and holding” ground from Al Qaeda and the Taliban, hopefully paving the way for NATO to hand over security to local officials by 2014.

The House yesterday formally approved a measure giving the Navy permission to buy both classes of Littoral Combat Ship. This comes the same week Navy leadership made its case before the Senate Armed Services committee, asking for permission to buy the Freedom and Independence class ships before the end of the month. While the House […]

The U.S. House and Senate have each come up with a last-minute defense authorization bill aimed at giving the Pentagon $725 billion for FY-11, according to press releases put out by both houses of congress tonight.