Radar Sweep

New SASC Chair Sets Sight on $200B Defense Boost, Major Acquisition Reform Push

Breaking Defense

The new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has two goals as he takes the gavel in 2025: boost defense funding by about $200 billion in the Republican’s reconciliation package and pass a sweeping acquisition reform proposal in the next defense policy bill, he told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview.

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New Acting DOD Inspector General Named After Trump Firings

Inside Defense

A new acting Defense Department inspector general has been named to temporarily fill the place of Robert Storch, who was among more than a dozen IGs fired over the weekend by President Trump. The IG’s office said in an email that Steven Stebbins, currently the principal deputy inspector general, will serve as acting IG.

PODCAST: Airpower Perspectives | Advice for President Trump’s Defense Team

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

In this episode of the Aerospace Advantage, Doug Birkey chats with retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, retired Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem, Mark Gunzinger, and JV Venable about key considerations that President Trump’s defense team, especially the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Air Force, should be thinking about when it comes to airpower.

Air Force Needs More Fighter Pilots for More Airpower, Report Says

Air Force Times

The U.S. Air Force needs to address its dwindling number of fighter pilots if it wants to remain combat ready, according to a recent report by a Washington aerospace think tank. A Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies report released this month examining the service’s “pilot crisis” recommends the Air Force grow and train its active component combat air forces, retain experienced pilots in the Air Force reserve component—such as the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve—and increase the production of fighter aircraft to bolster its battle capabilities.

Pentagon Prepares to Expand In-Theater Data Processing Pilot

Defense News

The U.S. Defense Department is laying the groundwork to expand a pilot program started in 2023 to provide more data processing capabilities to military units operating outside of the U.S., according to a senior official in the Pentagon’s Chief Information Office.

Space Force Zeroed Out Funding for In-Space Mobility in FY26 Budget Request: Sources

Breaking Defense

The Space Force this year decided against including any new money in its initial fiscal 2026 budget request for in-space servicing mobility and logistics, according to two former senior government officials who had been involved in the process, despite strong support for such an investment from lawmakers and officials then serving in the Biden administration.

One More Thing

Troops Used Government Cards to Pay for Casinos, Online Gaming, and Super Bowl Parties

Task & Purpose

Military service members charged at least $500,000 on gambling, drinking, nightclubs and online games to their government travel charge cards in 2023 without triggering alarms among finance officials, an inspector general report found. ... One Air Force cardholder, investigators found, managed to use his card for a five-month gambling spree that went undetected by their base finance office or their commander.