Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) declares that the Pentagon’s QDR “has become a budget-driven exercise, which limits its utility to Congress.” Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, is leading a charge to separate what the Pentagon needs to address threats as opposed to what it can afford. He says, the “Committee Defense Review” he began last year, taken in conjunction with the QDR, will provide “a more complete picture of America’s national security needs.”
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.