Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) has said his committee will continue to prioritize efforts to streamline the defense acquisition process in response to updates provided by the Defense Department on the F-35 fighter jet program.

Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall said in a Dec. 19 response letter to the Senate panel’s questions that DoD expects another seven-month delay in the program’s system development and demonstration phase and a cost overrun of more than $500 million, McCain’s office said Tuesday.

“With this latest delay, I am deeply concerned about the department’s current plan for Follow-on Modernization,” McCain said.

“If the department continues to repeat the mistakes of the past, more delays, more cost overruns, and increased retrofit costs will be the inevitable result.”

Kendall said in the letter that a delay in the SDD phase, which is expected to conclude in May 2018, may impact the FoM program.

He also called on Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson through a letter to disclose to Congress the company’s plans on how it will reduce the cost of the F-35 program.

McCain’s remarks come weeks after Hewson gave President-elect Donald Trump her “personal commitment” to drive down the fighter aircraft’s cost.

The Senate approved a congressional waiver to help ease the path for retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis’ confirmation as defense secretary under President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration through an 81-17 vote Thursday, Politico reported Thursday.

Jeremy Herb and Connor O’Brien write the waiver legislation would exempt Mattis from a law that requires a seven-year wait for former military officials after retirement from active duty in order to serve as the Defense Department‘s civilian leader.

The House Armed Services Committee on Thursday also cleared the exemption by a 34-28 vote while the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 24-3 in favor of the waiver after Trump’s defense secretary nominee sailed through an SASC nomination hearing, according to Herb and O’Brien.

The report said House lawmakers aim to take up the legislation by Friday.

Mattis told SASC members during his testimony before the committee Thursday that, if confirmed, he would support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the U.S.’ partnership with NATO and restrictions on nuclear weapon use, Leigh Giangreco reported for Flightglobal.

He also voiced his support for a nuclear triad modernization plan that includes development of bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarines, according to the report.

U.S. Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, has said the country needs a multipolar strategy to address hybrid and complex threats on every domain, DoD News reported Thursday.

Amaani Lyle writes Tidd highlighted potential threats such as Iran’s use of fast boats and unmanned aerial vehicles, China’s development of artificial islands for navy and coast guard operations as well as Russia’s movement to boost its Arctic territory.

Tidd noted such incidents cover a broader campaign of state and nonstate actors that use military and paramilitary activities such as political manipulation and information operations to exploit civil society.

“Each illicit conveyance that reaches its destination further erodes maritime and border security and sovereignty, not just of our partners, but of the United States, as well,” said Tidd.

“We need to be thinking about how these competitors, both state and nonstate, view, use, and exploit the maritime domain [and] We need to assess the full hybrid toolkit at their disposal and how they’re able to work against our Navy and our nation.”

U.S. Air Force officials have selected Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Forth Worth, Texas as the preferred location for the service branch’s first Air Force Reserve-led base for the Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jet

Lockheed Martin said Thursday the service branch will provide the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas its first F-35A units in the mid-2020s.

The Air Force will also consider Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Homestead Air Reserve Base and Whiteman Air Force Base as potential alternatives for the environmental analysis process which will be completed prior to the service branch’s final basing decision.

“We selected the Air Force Reserve unit in Fort Worth because it is the location that meets all of the necessary training requirements at the lowest cost,” said Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James.

“Additionally, the location will provide mission synergy and access to an experienced workforce for recruiting as a result of its proximity to the F-35 manufacturing plant.”

Lockheed noted that the Air Force will also conduct on-the-ground site surveys at candidate locations for the next two Air National Guard-led F-35 bases to evaluate the bases’ capacity to meet operational requirements, potential impacts to existing missions, infrastructure and manpower for the F-35A aircraft.

The Air Force will selected preferred and alternatives for the ANG bases in the summer of 2017 and F-35A units will be deployed at the second and third ANG locations within the mid-2020s.

Dannelly Field Air Guard Station, Gowen Field Air Guard Station, Jacksonville Air Guard Station, Selfridge Air National Guard Base and Truax Air Guard Station are among the candidates for the next two ANG locations.

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas), President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the CIA director post, has told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he considers Russia as one of the leading threats to U.S.’ national security, USA Today reported Thursday.

Tom Vanden Brook writes Pompeo said Russia’s alleged involvement in the bombing of civilians in Syria violates laws of war and the country’s decisions to conduct such raids may have come from the highest levels of the Russian government.

“Russia has reasserted itself aggressively, invading and occupying Ukraine, threatening Europe, and doing nearly nothing to aid in the destruction and defeat of ISIS,” said Pompeo.

Pompeo considers Russia as one of the U.S.’ leading threats behind Islamic State militant groups, Syria and Iran.

He added that the U.S. government should utilize voluntarily-shared information such as social media posts to aid national security protection efforts.

The Defense Department has deployed a new radar designed to monitor potential North Korean long-range-missile launches in the coming months, CNN reported Thursday.

Barbara Starr writes the sea-based X-band radar was launched in response to North Korean statements of readiness to test-launch intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea made an announcement in January that it has developed the capacity to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at any time and location that leader Kim Jong-Un dictates and its government leaders noted that the country’s arms development efforts were commenced in response to U.S. policies.

Defense officials told CNN that additional surveillance assets will be used to monitor activity on the Korean Peninsula and noted that U.S. missile defense systems might not shoot down launched North Korean ballistic missiles.

“It may be more to our advantage to, first of all, save our interceptor inventory, and, second, to gather intelligence from the flight rather than do that [shoot it down] when it’s not threatening,” said outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter.