Defense Budget Boosts Funds for New Tech, Innovation
US House lawmakers want to allocate more than $1.3 billion for the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, part of a continued push by Congress to develop commercial technology at a faster pace.
Vets Can Prepare Own Online Memorials
VA planners expect to expand the Veterans Legacy Memorial platform by the end of the year. The project allows living veterans to prepare their own tribute pages with personal information about their time in the service and allows family members to update online memorials of deceased vets.
Lockheed Announces Layoffs at Pax
Lockheed Martin has announced the layoff of 176 workers at its Sikorsky division supporting the heavy lift helicopter program at NAS Patuxent River. The layoffs are effective April 27.
MQ-25 Conducts First-Ever Unmanned Aerial Refueling
The MQ-25 Stingray program’s first-ever aerial refueling of a manned receiver aircraft by an unmanned tanker was successful. The test took place June 4 out of MidAmerica Airport in Illinois.
55 Marylanders in Naval Academy’s Class of ’21
The US Naval Academy held its commencement Friday in Annapolis with Vice President Kamala Harris giving the keynote address. There were 1,084 graduates and 55 of them were Marylanders.
CNO Confident Navy Gets Bigger Budget Portion
While competition for defense funds is high among the services, Chief of Naval Operations ADM Mike Gilday is confident the Navy Department has a “sound case” for getting a bigger piece of the defense budget.
Biden Proposes $715B Defense Budget
President Joe Biden has rolled out his defense budget for the next fiscal year. He is asking $715 billion for the Pentagon. The FY22 proposed budget represents a 1.6% increase over this year.
GOP Lawmakers Urge Hike in Defense Budget
Eight GOP lawmakers, led by House Armed Services Committee member Mike Rogers, are urging President Joe Biden to increase the defense budget by 3% to 5%. They say the hike would be a prudent investment to stay ahead of China and other threats.
Sea Breeze 2020 Exercise Aims to Deter Russia
More than 2,000 troops from eight countries took part in training exercise Sea Breeze 2020 in the Black Sea region. “Conducting operations in the Black Sea ensures stability throughout the region,” said the US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa commander.
New NAVSEA Commander Takes Helm
VADM Bill Galinis took over command of Naval Sea Systems Command last week. He relieves VADM Thomas Moore, who is retiring after 39 years in the service.
