* The US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is starting to release the FY 2014 president budget request. So far only the long-term overview is available, which outlines the terms of a “grand bargain” to replace the sequester. The general release is expected at 11:15am ET, the Pentagon’s media briefing will follow at 1pm ET, and finally the services during the afternoon. DID’s dedicated article will be updated throughout the day.
* Truck maker Oshkosh will cut 200 salaried jobs and 700 hourly workers by the summer, reducing its defense-focused workforce to 2,800 people.
* The UK’s House of Commons Defence Committee looked into what it will take [PDF] to secure the future of Afghanistan. Lots of moving parts involved, including elusive institutional and economic progress coming from the Afghans themselves.
* South Korea will start deploying its own low tier Korea Air and Missile Defense System (KAMD) in July, according to the Yonhap news agency.
* Is China shifting its policy towards North Korea? Neither a North Korean collapse nor South Korea and/or Japan acquiring their own nuclear weapons are palatable outcomes for the Chinese.
* India will invest Rs 15,000 crore ($3+ billion) to increase worker productivity at the 41 factories operated by state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). That’s more than a year of revenue for OFB.
* India’s government-sponsored Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses explains why that country, the largest armament importer in the world, abstained from voting in favor of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).