Breaking Defense:
Capitol Hill: Lawmakers are calling on the Pentagon to build new long-range missiles, close tech innovation offices and transfer experimental missile defense programs from development offices to the Missile Defense Agency in a wide-ranging series of markups to the 2019 defense budget.
The moves, far from being made into law, show that members of the House Armed Services Committee are ready to hold the Pentagon to its recent promises of speeding technology development and fielding to meet the rapid modernization programs undertaken by China and Russia, while hedging against Iranian and North Korean threats.
One of the biggest changes being proposed is to shutter the Strategic Capabilities Office, once seen as one of the most innovative shops in the Pentagon. The office — set up by former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who insisted it report directly to him — has already lost its hard-charging director Will Roper, who moved to the Air Force, and has had its direct line to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis disconnected.
