{"id":1731885,"date":"2022-11-09T06:30:18","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T11:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1731885"},"modified":"2022-11-09T10:32:57","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T15:32:57","slug":"congress-set-to-back-multiyear-weapons-purchases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-set-to-back-multiyear-weapons-purchases\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress Set to Back Multiyear Weapons Purchases"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcongress-set-to-back-multiyear-weapons-purchases%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1731885&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/EKGG54WCGZAUJFE7VSZN3E7XS4.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2015 The Pentagon\u2019s chief weapons buyer said he expects Congress to approve new authorities and spending to expand U.S. weapons production in a manner unseen since the Cold War.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">To help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ukraine fight Russia<\/a> and to refill U.S. stockpiles, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2022\/09\/07\/pentagons-acquisition-chief-talks-inflation-ukraine-vampires\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill LaPlante<\/a> has for several months called for the Pentagon to receive multiyear contracting authorities for munitions that are typically reserved for Navy vessels and major aircraft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">At a broader discussion at George Mason university last week, LaPlante said he believes Congress will grant the authority and the corresponding dollars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cThey are supportive of this. They\u2019re going to give us multiyear authority, and they\u2019re going to give us funding to really put into the industrial base \u2015 and I\u2019m talking billions of dollars into the industrial base \u2015 to fund these production lines,\u201d LaPlante said of lawmakers Friday. \u201cThat, I predict, is going to happen, and it\u2019s happening now. And then people will have to say: \u2018I guess they were serious about it.\u2019 But we have not done that since the Cold War.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Last month, Senate Armed Services Committee leaders introduced a bipartisan amendment that would grant the Pentagon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2022\/10\/17\/lawmakers-seek-emergency-powers-for-pentagons-ukraine-war-contracting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wartime procurement powers<\/a>, allowing it to buy massive amounts of high-priority munitions. The Senate is expected to vote on the underlying bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">As drafted, the amendment would let the Pentagon lock in purchases of certain munitions made by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/industry\/2022\/05\/09\/lockheed-aiming-to-double-javelin-production-seeks-supply-chain-crank-up\/\">Lockheed Martin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/land\/2022\/05\/27\/us-army-signs-deal-to-backfill-stingers-sent-to-ukraine\/\">Raytheon Technologies<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2022\/07\/16\/qa-baes-tom-arseneault-on-ukraine-covid-and-the-farnborough-airshow\/\">BAE Systems<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2022\/07\/01\/us-to-send-ukraine-advanced-nasams-air-defense-weapons-in-820-million-package\/\">Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace<\/a> over fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024, a step aimed at encouraging manufacturers to expand production lines for sought-after munitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">In spite of the billions of dollars in U.S. weapons sent to Ukraine over recent months, some defense firms have said the necessary funding to boost weapons production hasn\u2019t materialized. LaPlante seemed to support that view, saying the starting gun for industry will be formal contracting action by the government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cOnce they see we\u2019re going to put money against it and it\u2019s credible, they\u2019ll get it. Their job is to see where we\u2019re putting our money and to try to capture it,\u201d he said of defense executives. \u201cAll that matters is [request for proposals], the contract and the funding. We have not contracted and put in RFPs and [acquisition] strategies assuming large-scale production numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">U.S. Defense Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2022\/10\/12\/us-pushes-patchwork-air-defense-for-ukraine-amid-russian-blitz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lloyd Austin<\/a> in Brussels last month pushed to galvanize allied defense-industrial bases \u201cto fire up production for the systems to defend Ukraine, even while meeting our own security needs.\u201d There, LaPlante chaired a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2022\/09\/27\/wh-aims-to-ease-arms-sales-as-sanctions-hit-russian-defense-sector\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">group of more than 40 national armaments directors<\/a> to iron out common problems \u2015 and one of them is that foreign defense firms are also questioning the durability of the Ukraine support effort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cWhat industry means, and I get this, is: \u2018Are you serious? Sure, you\u2019re going to put a bunch of money against this now during the crisis, but two years from now, you\u2019re going to leave me holding the bag,\u2019\u201d LaPlante said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Congress already greenlit more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, but continuing support has become an issue in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/election-2022\/2022\/10\/31\/what-a-gop-win-in-november-would-mean-for-defense-policy-in-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. midterm elections<\/a>, set for Nov. 8. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy warned last month that Republicans will not write a \u201cblank check\u201d for Ukraine if they win back the House majority, reflecting his party\u2019s growing skepticism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">For Pentagon acquisitions, LaPlante said, the crisis in Ukraine ought to inject a new focus on whether a weapon is easily mass produced and functions as well as whether troops can be trained on it quickly \u2015 and whether it\u2019s applicable in the Pacific.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">Those factors should be part of conversations about the viability of developmental projects that rely on emerging technologies or nontraditional avenues like the Defense Innovation Unit and other transaction authorities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cIf somebody gives you a really cool, liquored-up story about a DIU or OTA, ask him when it\u2019s going to production; ask him how many numbers; ask him what the [unit cost] is going to be; ask him about work against China,\u201d La Plante said. \u201cAsk them all those questions because that\u2019s what matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1tqpf5s-0 kEzXdV body-paragraph body-paragraph\">\u201cThe tech bros aren\u2019t helping us too much in Ukraine; they want to,\u201d he added. \u201cUkraine is not holding their own against Russia with quantum [computing], they\u2019re not they\u2019re not holding their own with [artificial intelligence]. They\u2019re not \u2015 whatever your favorite gadget is. It\u2019s hardcore production of really serious weaponry.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"default__Wrapper-cy7r53-1 iWrUWb\">\n<p class=\"default__BioWrapper-cy7r53-0 duEMsg a-body2\">Joe Gould is the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He served previously as Congress reporter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON \u2015 The Pentagon\u2019s chief weapons buyer said he expects Congress to approve new authorities and spending to expand U.S. weapons production in a manner unseen since the Cold War.To<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1731888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1731885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1731885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1731885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1731885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1731888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1731885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1731885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1731885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}