Senior Reporter, Congress and Defense Industry, Breaking Defense
Valerie covers the congressional and defense industry beat for Breaking Defense. Valerie has extensive national security reporting expertise, having served as the air warfare beat reporter for Defense News for five years. During that time her work was recognized by numerous awards, including the prestigious National Press Club Michael A. Dornheim Award for defense journalism. Valerie most recently covered commercial aerospace for Reuters. She also previously worked at Defense Daily and National Defense Magazine.
“We’re still looking for the ability to translate and transition those innovation priorities into capabilities, into programs of record, into budget priorities,” said Rachel Hoff, Reagan Institute’s policy director and one of the authors of a new scorecard evaluating progress in defense innovation.
The “Milestone C” decision is a crucial moment signifying the department’s confidence in the performance of the F-35 and maturity of Lockheed Martin’s production system, though the plane has been in service for years.
“Ukraine is not running out of courage and tenacity: They’re running out of ammunition, and we’re running out of time to help them,” said CIA director William Burns.
“I share your commitment to maintaining the public’s trust in the Department of Defense,” Douglas Schmidt, the new director of operational test and evaluation, said in the letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
UH-60M Blackhawks from Lockheed Martin Sikorsky and CH-47F Block II Chinooks from Boeing would have ended production in 2030 if the Army kept FARA going, a top service official testified.
The almost 400-page PPBE report draws on two years of research and more than 400 interviews, and resulted in 28 recommendations, half of which are denoted as key changes.
With AI still a nascent technology, VISTA’s ability to churn through flight tests could be critical for the Air Force as it looks to start a Collaborative Combat Aircraft program as early as fiscal 2024.
“I think I’m pretty comfortable with where we are on the [fiscal 2024] budget. I think we’ll have a good story to tell,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told Breaking Defense in a recent interview.
RVS 2.0 provides a “quantum leap” in camera technology, said Lt. Col. Joshua Renfro of the Air Force’s KC-46 cross functional team. “We’re very confident in the product. We like where it’s going, and we really like what this is going to deliver to us down the road.”
The war in Ukraine (and subsequent delivery of billions of dollars in air defense equipment, munitions, drones, guns and other weaponry) also prompted a major realization: The Pentagon and defense industry’s ability to rapidly mobilize to produce munitions at the pace that would be needed during a full-scale war has atrophied.
“I think what became crystal clear on the 24th of February this year was that Russia is willing to take bigger political and military risks … and the threshold for the use of military force is very low,” Swedish defense minister Pål Jonson told Breaking Defense.
At AUSA Global Force 2024, IAI presented integrated, AI-driven combat systems – both manned and unmanned – that are opening new opportunities on the battlefield.
At AUSA Global Force 2024, IAI presented integrated, AI-driven combat systems – both manned and unmanned – that are opening new opportunities on the battlefield.
With programs like MTC, Millennium Space Systems is redefining what it means to be an operational prime – rapidly delivering operational small sat constellations on rapid timelines.
With programs like MTC, Millennium Space Systems is redefining what it means to be an operational prime – rapidly delivering operational small sat constellations on rapid timelines.
