Defense

WASHINGTON — With Congress overriding President Donald Trump’s veto of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon’s chief management officer job has officially been eliminated. While the NDAA language calls for the roles and responsibilities of the office to be divested to other parts of the defense department over the next year, the CMO role itself was eliminated…

WASHINGTON — Michele Evans, who led Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics business since 2018, died on Jan. 1, the company announced Saturday. Evans took a leave of absence that began Dec. 1 “to address health issues unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic,” according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by the company. She previously took medical leave in September 2019 due to a cancer…

WASHINGTON — Buried inside the massive $2.3 trillion spending package passed by Congress on Monday was a $286 million lifeline for General Atomics that will keep the Air Force buying MQ-9 Reaper drones at least one more year. In its fiscal 2021 budget request, the Air Force eliminated funding to procure the Reaper, instead requesting about $172 million to begin shutting down General…

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin will acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne in a $4.4 billion deal that will allow the defense giant to beef up its technical know-how in the areas of space, propulsion and munitions, the companies announced Dec. 20. The acquisition signals Lockheed’s continued interest in the areas of hypersonic weapons and space — two major technology development priorities for the…