Leaders at two major defense contractors recently cited lawmakers’ unwillingness to compromise as a factor in Congress’ inaction over the potential of sequestration, Talking Points Memo reports. Two weeks ago, Pratt & Whitney President David Hess and Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens testified before the House Armed Services Committee about …

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Bogdan to serve as director of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the Pentagon announced Thursday. Bogdan has also been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general. The nearly three-decade Air Force veteran currently serves as deputy director of the …

The defense budget for fiscal year 2013 could result in cuts to weapons and vehicles procurement as well as furloughs and layoffs for civilian employees, the Pentagon’s number two official told a House panel Wednesday. According to The Hill newspaper, Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee the Pentagon …

The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee recommends moving $5 billion from the Defense Department’s base budget into a separate spending bill for Afghanistan operations, Defense News reports. Kate Brannen reports the transfer would bring the Pentagon’s total budget to nearly $604 billion, including $511 billion for base funds and $93 billion …

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are expected to spend close to half of the military’s electronic warfare budget for fiscal years 2008 through 2017, Aviation Week reports. Citing data from online analysis tool Avascent 050, Michael Fabey writes the the military services should spend nearly $44.2 billion combined on …

By a 414-2 vote, the House passed a bill Tuesday requiring the Obama Administration to detail plans for handling automatic budget cuts scheduled to start January 2013. The Hill newspaper reports that the bill, authored by House GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, requires the White House to release that report …

Six Republican senators and one independent senator want several contractors to submit written information on the potential impact of defense cuts under sequestration. Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) released the letter Thursday, addressed to companies such as ATK, BAE Systems’ U.S. subsidiary, Boeing, Computer Sciences Corp., General Dynamics, ITT Exelis, L-3 …

The Air Force and National Guard’s plans to modernize their C-5 aircraft fleets may be jeopardized due to opposition from both chambers of Congress, AOL Defense reports. According to Sydney J. Freeburg’s report, the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013 contains language that may hinder programs …

The first commercially-built spacecraft that NASA will use to taxi supplies to the International Space Station launched on Tuesday. NASA said the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is the second demonstration mission for the space agency’s commercial orbital transportation services program. Administrator Charles Bolden said in a …

The U.S. Navy has reduced the projected $10 billion cost for its Next Generation Enterprise Network contract to between $4.5 and $5.4 billion over five years, Bob Brewin reports on Nextgov. Capt. Shawn Hendricks, NGEN program manager, told reporters on Friday the network will cost between $900 million and $1.07 …