Valerie Insinna

EXCLUSIVE: Lockheed out of Navy’s F/A-XX future fighter program - Breaking Defense A source with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense that Lockheed submitted a bid for the next-gen fighter effort, but the proposal did not satisfy the Navy’s criteria, leaving Boeing and Nor...

SCOOP: Lockheed Martin is out of the Navy's F/A-XX fighter program, leaving Boeing and Northrop as the remaining competitors:

breakingdefense.com/2025/03/excl...

‘What the f— is going on?’ Confusion, uncertainty in industry as Army contracts seemingly halted The fear among industry now is that this move is just the first in what would amount to a Pentagon-wide halt on new awards, for an indefinite period of time.

"What the fuck is going on?" Confusion is sweeping the defense industry as an Army email circulates that seemingly halts further contracting activity. Story by Ashley Roque, @aaronmehta.bsky.social and myself:

breakingdefense.com/2025/01/what...

EXCLUSIVE: New SASC chair sets sight on $200B defense boost, major acquisition reform push “I hope and believe that President Trump's pledge to restore peace through strength so that we can avoid conflict is going to be followed through with adequate funding,” Senate Armed Services Committe...

NEW: In exclusive interview, SASC chairman Sen. Roger Wicker says he'd to see $100B/year for the next two years in the reconciliation bill, which could help fund US Iron Dome, NGAD sixth-gen fighter, and shipbuilding programs:

breakingdefense.com/2025/01/excl...

I just like some crunchy tacos sometimes

Current status: disengaging from today’s political sideshow (the Hegseth nomination hearing) by eating Taco Bell and watching an old 1998 Raw episode where Stone Cold Steve Austin infiltrates a hospital to attack an injured Vince McMahon

Rep. Mike Waltz, who is tapped to be Trump's national security advisor, speaks in support of Hegseth, making the case that he can bring a "warrior ethos" back to the Pentagon and saying that Hegseth has the support of the veterans community.

At Pete Hegseth hearing to be defense secretary, Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, states that he does not believe Hegseth to be qualified for the top DoD leadership post.

China ‘could beat us to the punch’ to a 6th-gen fighter, Air Force official warns “It's fair to say we pay a lot of attention to what the Chinese are doing. And so, not everything that becomes public is a shock,” Andrew Hunter said when asked about new images of purported Chinese f...

Spotlighting this scoop from my colleague Michael Marrow: Turns out China could beat the U.S. to fielding a sixth gen fighter, the Air Force’s acquisition chief says.

breakingdefense.com/2025/01/chin...

The only Pentagon I recognize from this day forward:

Maybe social media is just dead lol

I like Bluesky because I definitely see fewer posts about how women aren’t fulfilling their destinies unless they have 3+ kids, and that’s pretty rad.

But also this place is really boring and it feels like no one interacts with each other (at least in the defense/aerospace sector).

New House Armed Services GOP subcommittee chair announcements:

Cyber IT and Innovation: Bacon (incumbent)

Intel/Spec Ops: Bergman --> Jackson

Readiness: Waltz --> Bergman

Milpers: Banks --> Fallon

Seapower: Kelly (incumbent)

Stratfor: Lamborn --> DesJarlais

TacAirLand: Wittman (incumbent)

WE KNOW HOW IT ENDS. WE’RE ALL READY FOR IT. (pop-tart standing atop toaster slot)

going into 2025 with this energy

Don’t talk to me I’m unwell

The scream I let out when
-Rey Mysterio came out to challenge New Day
-CM Punk came out to be his tag team partner
-my short king Rey hit a 619 on New Day
-CM Punk carried Rey Mysterio around on his shoulders

MY FAVORITE BOYS

I don’t get these jokers online acting like Beyoncé isn’t an insanely talented performer with a ton of range. I am not a Beyoncé stan but why wouldn’t you respect a performer who is stretching her legs, releasing ambitious albums that span different genres?

I am begging for a rock album. BEGGING.

Buying fireworks so when Santa arrives we can give him Dave Batista’s entrance

Me when I’m acting extremely macabre about very normal, mundane things

PLEASE. THIS MAN IS NOT LISTENING TO ARTEMAS

That’s my son, sir

He’s literally so beautiful

Filed a scoop on a next-gen fighter, made cookies for my husband and now am sitting down to watch the CR vote before making another batch of cookies. Nara Smith could NEVER

That’s so kind! Thank you.

Ahhhh thank you???

EXCLUSIVE: New Air Force review supports manned 6th-gen NGAD fighter concept Military analysis supports the fielding of a sixth-generation stealth fighter, Breaking Defense has learned, though a final decision on the Next Generation Air Dominance platform now rests with the Tr...

SCOOP: A new Air Force analysis supports the development of a manned sixth-gen fighter known as Next Generation Air Dominance, amid questions about the program's future.

breakingdefense.com/2024/12/excl...

why does this kind of slap?

Multitasking watching anime and the CR fight on the House floor the way George Washington intended

YouTube video by Breaking Defense The Weekly Break Out web news show - Coming soon!

Hey look we made a show: Coming in 2025, it's The Break Out.

Every week, we'll bring you a short (5 minutes or so), entertaining roundup of things you need to know in the world of defense. I updog'd @leeferran.bsky.social in our first test show. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WeD...