Sunday Report 16 November 25

The Week In National Security Air and Space

Congress / White House

Compromise NDAA on track for December vote. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees intend to deliver a compromise FY26 NDAA in the coming weeks, according to HASC Chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL). It is reported the two chambers have not yet reconciled a bottom-line price tag for the compromise legislation; the Senate-passed bill recommends a $925B national defense budget ($32B increase from the presidential request), while the House-passed bill remained with the $893B request level. The chambers are working to resolve policy differences from each chamber’s passed legislation, with an informal deadline to finalize the bill by Thanksgiving and vote in early December. Rep. Rogers stated, “We’re in a better position on this NDAA than we have been for the last two or three years, as far as the narrow number of issues that were still outstanding.” Both Rep. Rogers and SASC Chair Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) have outlined parallel acquisition reform proposals that must be synthesized, aiming to use this NDAA for streaming procurement. Following the government reopening on November 12, the House and Senate Appropriations Committee now have through January 30, 2026 to pass the slate of appropriations bills — including defense — for FY26, a step required to enable enacted NDAA policy.

Record government shutdown ends. On November 12, President Donald Trump signed the House and Senate approved Continuing Resolution to end the longest shutdown in U.S. history that lasted 43 days. The CR sets the stage for tens of thousands of defense civilians to return to work, guarantees defense personnel pay will resume, and funds the government through January 30, 2026, by which point the House and Senate Appropriations Committees must pass authorization bills or risk another shutdown. The CR also provides full year appropriations to fund military construction, Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture for 2026, leaving nine appropriations bills to pass by the January 30 deadline. Generally, the CR freezes funding at FY2025 levels. Air & Space Forces Association President retired Lt Gen Burt M. Field emphasized this issue saying, “This is especially important to our Space Force, which simply cannot execute the missions that Congress has assigned them unless Congress allows them to acquire the new systems needed to execute those missions.” He continued, stating that, “without a full budget, new military programs cannot start, money-saving multiyear contracts cannot be signed, and military readiness cannot be improved and assured. It Is imperative that Congress pass full-year appropriations bills and end this cycle of destructive temporary measures.”

SBIR program on hold while Congress debates changes. The $4.26B Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracting program paused with many other programs when the government shut down on October 1, but, unlike other programs, did not resume functions when the government reopened this week due to a block on the fund’s reauthorization. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, wants reforms to SBIR and STTR programs, but negotiations on her proposed changes and a competing reform package stalled. One of her proposed changes includes imposing lifetime caps on Phase I and II funding, so no company can ever receive more than $75M in total early stage SBIR money. She has also expressed concern about links between the Chinese government and SBIR grant recipients and is proposing a bill that mandates public records checks. Without these changes in place, Ernst has said she would rather kill the program and return the funds to the agencies’ main R&D accounts. Her office said in a statement, “The status quo is unacceptable and without necessary reforms, these set-aside dollars may be better off restored to agencies’ research and development budgets for agency priorities.”

Space Force

Space Force releases Vector 2025. The service released Space Force Vector 2025, a comprehensive document designed to provide Guardians with a unified reference that connects key guidance, initiatives and concepts shaping the Space Force. The document is not a plan or strategy; rather, it provides what CSO Gen Chance Saltzman refers to as a “vector”— an outline of the direction and momentum that the service must maintain as it matures. “As we grow to meet the demands of a rapidly changing domain, it occasionally becomes necessary to take stock of our journey: where we have been, where we are today and where we are going,” Gen Saltzman wrote in the foreword. “So, rather than a plan or a strategy, I felt it was important to provide our Guardians with a ‘vector’ for what I consider to be the most essential elements of our work.” The full document can be found here.

DoD / Other Services

DoD top weapons buyer: Speed is not a mandate for acquisition overhaul. In a call with reporters on November 10, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey shared that the Department is emphasizing speed but not mandating. “There’s certainly no question about the emphasis on speed, but recognizing that there’s a need for judgment and flexibility in that triangle of cost schedule performance,” he told reporters. “One thing we’re doing around here nowadays is we’re now saying ‘schedule, performance, cost’ instead of ‘cost, schedule, performance,’ just as a way of emphasizing the fact that speed is priority amongst us.” These comments come on the heels of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s speech on defense acquisition reform, where speed was noted as a top priority. Duffey’s comments today appeared to signal to industry that while speed matters, it’s not going to always come at the cost of capability.

Golden Dome

Experts: Golden Dome SBIs will need defenses. No matter what shape a future constellation of US space-based interceptors (SBI) takes, the orbital weapons will need to be protected, according to experts — a contention that has not been often included in speculation about requirements, capabilities and costs. “It’s obviously very important that we find a way to develop this space layer in a protected way, not only from adversary kinetic or local orbital issues, but also from cyber-attacks, electronic jamming, and laser attacks,” said Patrick Binning, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. According to Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, defenses for SBIs will need to include both passive measures on-board the interceptors themselves or integrated with a larger support satellite, such as stealth technologies that would make them harder to detect, as well as active measures such as the capability to maneuver or lasers to blind attacking satellites.

International

France’s new National Space Strategy and increase in space funding. At an event to announce their Space Command’s operational capability, French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to increase military space spending by €4.2B (US$4.8B) for 2026–2030, bringing the total planned military space budget to around €10.2B (US$11.8B). The funds support the 2027 launch of the Ministry of Defense’s long-planned counter-space satellites and broader support of France’s new national space strategy. The key pillars of this strategy focus on: guaranteed access to space; industry and skills; science and exploration; and international cooperation. He also emphasized greater resilience across national space systems, ensuring operational autonomy through the continued operation and reinforcement of existing sovereign capabilities and adapting to new requirements through more diversified orbital architectures, including the use of very low Earth orbit.

Threats

Europe faces satellite espionage threat from Russia and China. Germany and the United Kingdom have raised alarms regarding the escalating danger posed by Russian and Chinese activity in space. The United States and France have published warnings for over a decade about Russian satellites suspected of spying and gathering intelligence on Western assets, including not just military but commercial satellites. Germany has unveiled plans to allocate up to 35B euros ($40.2B USD) over the next five years to bolster its satellite operations, develop counter-jamming technology, and invest in both civilian and military space initiatives. The UK, meanwhile, has committed to increasing its defense spending through a strategic review, focusing on threats to “space, cyber, and electromagnetic domains.”

The Week Ahead

Tuesday, 18 November

Defense One State of Defense Business Acquisition Summit w/ Rep. Rob Wittman, et. al. Washington, D.C. (more)

Space Tech Expo Europe 2025. Nov 18-20. Bremen, Germany. (more)

MilCIS2025, Military Communications and Information Systems. Nov 18-20. Canberra, Australia. (more)

Wednesday, 19 November

SSCI: Closed business meeting to consider pending calendar business; to be immediately followed by a closed briefing on certain intelligence matters. Washington, D.C. (more)

Thursday, 20 November

CSIS: Delivering Space Capabilities for Warfighting Advantage w/ Gen Chance Saltzman, Lt Gen Doug Schiess, Maj Gen Stephen Purdy, Dr. Chris Scolese (invited), Kari Bingen, Steve Kitay, et. al. Washington, D.C. & Virtual. (more)