Despite the promise held out by industry proponents of lasers and high-power microwave bursts, military officials and senators from both sides of the aisle said that lack of funding was putting a crimp on the necessary research and testing for the new weapons under the constraints of the 2011 Budget Control Act. – Defense Tech
A Republican congressman is seeking to strike language requiring women to register for the draft from a defense policy bill. – The Hill
The Marine Corps has approved requests by two women to move into infantry military occupational specialties. One woman has been approved to become a rifleman and another to become a machine gunner, said Capt. Philip Kulczewski, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. – Military Times
FPI Policy Director David Adesnik writes: he final shape of the NDAA will likely remain uncertain until the two versions of the bill go to conference, probably toward the end of the summer. At the moment, it is difficult to foresee any compromise that would satisfy both the White House and the Republican majority in Congress. Thus, it appears as though the defense bill is again headed for an end-of-year showdown, while the readiness and technological advantages of the Armed Forces continue to erode because there no agreement on how to undo the damage inflicted by the BCA. – Foreign Policy Initiative
Mary Beth Long writes: The technologically advanced weapons systems of the future are not going to operate, maintain, and sustain themselves. Humans are central to the successful conduct of war, and we had better start discussing how to invest in and reward skilled people—who are far more valuable than our “stuff.” – The American Interest