Rapid Fire 2011-12-01: Sequester Not Built in FY13 DoD Budget
- Mike McCord, principal US under secretary of defense (Comptroller), and Vice Admiral Mark Skinner, Principal Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, both told reporters that the FY13 budget that DoD, the services and OMD are working on will not incorporate the sequester supposed to kick in by 2013. the President’s Budget is to be presented by the 1st Monday of February but the Pentagon might run a preview by Congress next month. Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) is also being worked on to cover the FY13-17 span. It looks like weapons acquisitions won’t bear the brunt of whichever level of cut is actually going to be enacted. Meanwhile House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is trying to work out a deal to scale back sequestration, reports Politico.
- US Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy will meet next week with General Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the People’s Liberation Army General Staff on Dec. 7 for the 12th annual defense between the US and China.
- USMC General Joseph Dunford is bullish on the F-35B making it out of probation.
