The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee for the new 112th Congress has adjusted the jurisdiction of several of its subcommittees heading into this year’s season of oversight hearings. Among the changes (see new HASC rules) affecting the Air Force, the former airland panel is now called the “tactical air and land forces subcommittee.” It no longer has oversight of Air Force airlift programs. Instead, those activities now fall under the scrutiny of the newly renamed “seapower and projection forces subcommittee” (formerly the seapower panel). Along with lift, that panel has oversight of “deep strike bombers and related systems,” including the Air Force’s new bomber project when the Defense Department formally launches it. The strategic forces subcommittee will still oversee strategic weapons aside from the deep-strike bombers. The full committee will hold its first hearing Wednesday to receive testimony on the Pentagon’s efficiency initiative and budget reductions.
China is expanding the arsenal of counter-space weapons it could use in a potential conflict with the U.S., to include on-orbit systems, according to a new report from the Defense Intelligence Agency.