WASHINGTON - Led by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Ranking Member Jim Cooper (D-TN), the Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee for Strategic Forces today released their proposals for the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)...
Subcomittee on Strategic Forces Markup
FY16 NDAA
Led by Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Ranking Member Jim Cooper (D-TN), the Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee for Strategic Forces today released their proposals for the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Subcommittee will meet at 12:00 PM on Thursday, April 23rd, in Rayburn 2212. The markup will be webcast on the committee's YouTube page or at the HASC OpsCenter. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee mark is available here: Subcommittee Mark.
The Strategic Forces proposal provides vital space, nuclear and missile defense capabilities. Specifically:
Space
In light of the growing foreign threats, the mark prioritizes national security space by creating a new major force program category for space, and establishes the steps to strengthen national security space stewardship, leadership, management, and organization within the Department of Defense;
Authorizes the Committee's priority of a new U.S. space propulsion capability to end U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines by 2019;
Sends the Air Force back to the drawing board on the next-generation weather satellite system by withholding all funding for the program until it is redesigned to guarantee warfighter requirements are met;
Drives smarter, more cost-effective acquisition in milsatcom space programs through new pilot approaches, streamlined acquisition, and establishing proper accountability through centralized management in the Department of Defense to save taxpayer dollars;
Establishes new approaches to get better and more timely intelligence directly into the hands of warfighters.
Nuclear Weapons
Authorizes and sets priorities within the NNSA Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation program and prohibits funding for NNSA threat reduction activities in Russia;.
Creates a forcing function to ensure implementation of concrete reforms to the DOE/NNSA governance and management system recommended by an independent congressional advisory panel;.
Takes action to address the $3.6 billion backlog of deferred maintenance at NNSA.
Missile Defense and Other
Directs DOD to begin development of military capabilities to counter Russia's violation of the INF treaty;
Directs the development of military strategies in response to Russia's actions with respect to deployment of nuclear weapons on Ukrainian soil and with respect to deployment of the Club-K covert cruise missile system;
Directs the creation of a program of record for a Multiple-Object Kill Vehicle for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, to accelerate the development of this advanced capability to boost homeland defense capability;
Would require the modification of the Aegis Ashore site in Romania, and the planned site in Poland, to provide enhanced Anti-Air Warfare capability for defense of the sites from regional threats, including against cruise missiles from Russia;
Requires the relocation of the Sea-based X-band Radar to a site on the East Coast by 2020, and, directs immediate work on site design and other study and process work to homeport such radar on the East Coast, while ensuring the missile defense of Hawaii.
