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 need to be careful about these scarce precious assets,” said Tom Karako, a missile defense expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “While we’re only sending one battery, once it’s there, it’s probably not going to come back.”
The test could pave the way for ARRW to be put into production by its manufacturer Lockheed Martin as early as fiscal 2024 — if the weapon’s capabilities can overcome the reservations of certain top Air Force leaders, that is.
During a roundtable with reporters a STRATCOM representative said recent comments by Russia’s Vladimir Putin “wanted to message that he would not take first strike off the table.”
With the war in Ukraine prompting questions about the health and resilience of the defense industrial base, legacy defense primes this year seemed to steal back some of the limelight from the Silicon Valley-based tech startups.
For the first time ever, Congress gave the green light for the Air Force to divest part of its A-10 Warthog fleet, but it’s still yet to be seen whether this is a one-time event.
Rob Wittman, who is currently the top Republican on the HASC’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee, is seeking the chair of HASC’s tactical air and land forces subcommittee next year.
“We’re working with all the folks who have capital — could be private capital, could be whoever — to provide the investment,” said Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.
The B-21, the first new bomber for the Air Force in over 30 years, “looks imposing, but what’s under the frame and the space-age coatings is even more impressive,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
“It’s not a matter of money. I’ve got money. I’ve got big money,” said Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak, chief of staff of the Polish armed forces. “The biggest friction point globally is the capability of industry.”
“When people see the exterior of the B-21, it will be very similar to the B-2,” Kathy Warden said in an interview with Breaking Defense. “The real differences are inside of the platform.”
“I do not expect any change in Ukrainian performance because they are fighting for their country,” said Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak, chief of staff of the Polish armed forces. “I cannot imagine myself telling Ukrainians, ‘Change your position because it’s not sufficient for me.'”
“Due to additional findings earlier this year, this upgrade will provide an improvement, but is insufficient to lift the lightning restriction,” an F-35 spokesman told Breaking Defense. “Lightning restrictions will be lifted when all safety concerns are resolved or acceptably mitigated.”
