Colin Clark
Contributing Editor (At Large)
Colin Clark, the founding editor of Breaking Defense, is now our Indo-Pacific Bureau Chief, based in Sydney, Australia. In addition to his foundational efforts at Breaking Defense, Colin also started DoDBuzz.com, the world’s first all-online defense news website. He’s covered Congress, intelligence and regulatory affairs for Space News; founded and edited the Washington Aerospace Briefing, a newsletter for the space industry; covered national security issues for Congressional Quarterly; and was editor of Defense News. Colin is an avid fisherman, grill genius and wine drinker, all of which are only part of the reason he relishes the opportunity to live in Australia. cclark@breakingmedia.comStories by Colin Clark
RIAT: The F-35’s international debut here at RIAT isn’t just about NATO, Russia, China and other threats. It’s also about the Air Force’s future as Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of US Air Forces Europe, knows. His son, Lt. Col. Stephen Nichols, was one of the F-35A pilots who deployed to Mountain Home Air Force Base…
By Colin Clark
RIAT: Who knows if it’s coincidence or not, but the Pentagon today announced that after a seemingly endless negotiation for the tenth Low Rate Initial Production lot, Pratt and Whitney was awarded $1.5 billion for 99 F135 engines, as well as backups and spare parts. Unit prices for the conventional takeoff and landing systems came down by 2.6 percent.…
By Colin Clark
RIAT: No roadblocks stand in the way of approving Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for the Air Force’s F-35A, Gen. Hawk Carlisle said here today. The head of Air Combat Command — who is the man charged with ensuring Lockheed Martin meets all the benchmarks for IOC — made clear nothing would happen until Air Force…
By Colin Clark
PENTAGON: Less than two months after Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited the highly classified Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center (JICSPOC), the head of Strategic Command’s space command unit has taken over the war games at Schriever Air Force Base. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told me in an interview that Lt. Gen.David Buck, JFCC-Space, was…
By Colin Clark
PENTAGON: Restarting the F-22 line would probably be “cost-prohibitive,” says Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. The idea for restarting the F-22 line was pushed hard by Rep. Randy Forbes, the outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee. Forbes was defeated by Scott Taylor, a relatively unknown challenger, a Virginia state delegate who…
By Colin Clark
PENTAGON: He won’t be there for long, less than half a day, but Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work will attend the Farnborough Air Show and discuss his Third Offset Strategy in closed-door meetings. It marks a boost in firepower for the air show, which has usually seen Frank Kendall, the head of Pentagon acquisition, there as…
By Colin Clark
UPDATED: With F-35A Pilot And Mechanic Interviews CORRECTED: Caption Misidentified MSgt De Leon As Former Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy… The Air Force pilots who flew the F-35A models across the Atlantic Thursday for seven hours and 45 minutes reported a nearly flawless ride in a comfortable cockpit that included seven airborne refuelings. But the most…
By Colin Clark
The first three F-35Bs to leave the United States land in the United Kingdom today, having left the US this morning. The Air Force’s two F-35As leave tomorrow. Perhaps the highlight of this year’s Farnborough Air Show and Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) will come when the B models, used by the US Marines and Royal…
By Colin Clark
The United Kingdom is likely to need a new name after yesterday’s shocking vote by the British people to leave the European Union. Scottish leaders have made clear for some time that they were likely to hold a second referendum on independence should their erstwhile countrymen vote to leave the EU, and the equivalent of the blue…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: Air Force Space Command has created a blueprint for fighting and winning wars in space, known by the innocuous title of the Space Enterprise Vision. The existence of the plan is not classified but many of its working elements are. The SEV is “an all-encompassing look at all the things we need to do to create…
By Colin Clark
NATO HQ: As Central Command continues to hammer Daesh with bombs, rockets, bullets, and more, that’s straining the limited supply of AWACS, the airborne radar/command post aircraft that form the backbone of a modern air campaign. “That’s a capability under stress,” a senior NATO diplomat told reporters here. AWACS is one of those classic “high-demand, low-density”…
By Colin Clark
NATO HQ: It’s taken a while, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced here that the 28-member alliance has agreed to declare cyber an operational domain, much as the sea, air and land are. The really important result of this is that, for the first time, a cyber attack could trigger Article 5, the core NATO…
By Colin Clark
NATO HQ: If there’s one undercurrent to all the discussions here and on Ash Carter‘s flight from Washington about NATO, it is that the US is — once again — calling on Europe to do more to defend itself. With the current imbalance of spending at stark levels — America provides 75 percent of NATO…
By Colin Clark
RIAT: The F-35’s international debut here at RIAT isn’t just about NATO, Russia, China and other threats. It’s also about the Air Force’s future as Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of US Air Forces Europe, knows. His son, Lt. Col. Stephen Nichols, was one of the F-35A pilots who deployed to Mountain Home Air Force Base…
By Colin ClarkRIAT: Who knows if it’s coincidence or not, but the Pentagon today announced that after a seemingly endless negotiation for the tenth Low Rate Initial Production lot, Pratt and Whitney was awarded $1.5 billion for 99 F135 engines, as well as backups and spare parts. Unit prices for the conventional takeoff and landing systems came down by 2.6 percent.…
By Colin ClarkRIAT: No roadblocks stand in the way of approving Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for the Air Force’s F-35A, Gen. Hawk Carlisle said here today. The head of Air Combat Command — who is the man charged with ensuring Lockheed Martin meets all the benchmarks for IOC — made clear nothing would happen until Air Force…
By Colin ClarkPENTAGON: Less than two months after Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited the highly classified Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center (JICSPOC), the head of Strategic Command’s space command unit has taken over the war games at Schriever Air Force Base. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told me in an interview that Lt. Gen.David Buck, JFCC-Space, was…
By Colin ClarkPENTAGON: Restarting the F-22 line would probably be “cost-prohibitive,” says Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. The idea for restarting the F-22 line was pushed hard by Rep. Randy Forbes, the outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee. Forbes was defeated by Scott Taylor, a relatively unknown challenger, a Virginia state delegate who…
By Colin ClarkPENTAGON: He won’t be there for long, less than half a day, but Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work will attend the Farnborough Air Show and discuss his Third Offset Strategy in closed-door meetings. It marks a boost in firepower for the air show, which has usually seen Frank Kendall, the head of Pentagon acquisition, there as…
By Colin ClarkUPDATED: With F-35A Pilot And Mechanic Interviews CORRECTED: Caption Misidentified MSgt De Leon As Former Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy… The Air Force pilots who flew the F-35A models across the Atlantic Thursday for seven hours and 45 minutes reported a nearly flawless ride in a comfortable cockpit that included seven airborne refuelings. But the most…
By Colin ClarkThe first three F-35Bs to leave the United States land in the United Kingdom today, having left the US this morning. The Air Force’s two F-35As leave tomorrow. Perhaps the highlight of this year’s Farnborough Air Show and Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) will come when the B models, used by the US Marines and Royal…
By Colin ClarkThe United Kingdom is likely to need a new name after yesterday’s shocking vote by the British people to leave the European Union. Scottish leaders have made clear for some time that they were likely to hold a second referendum on independence should their erstwhile countrymen vote to leave the EU, and the equivalent of the blue…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: Air Force Space Command has created a blueprint for fighting and winning wars in space, known by the innocuous title of the Space Enterprise Vision. The existence of the plan is not classified but many of its working elements are. The SEV is “an all-encompassing look at all the things we need to do to create…
By Colin ClarkNATO HQ: As Central Command continues to hammer Daesh with bombs, rockets, bullets, and more, that’s straining the limited supply of AWACS, the airborne radar/command post aircraft that form the backbone of a modern air campaign. “That’s a capability under stress,” a senior NATO diplomat told reporters here. AWACS is one of those classic “high-demand, low-density”…
By Colin ClarkNATO HQ: It’s taken a while, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced here that the 28-member alliance has agreed to declare cyber an operational domain, much as the sea, air and land are. The really important result of this is that, for the first time, a cyber attack could trigger Article 5, the core NATO…
By Colin ClarkNATO HQ: If there’s one undercurrent to all the discussions here and on Ash Carter‘s flight from Washington about NATO, it is that the US is — once again — calling on Europe to do more to defend itself. With the current imbalance of spending at stark levels — America provides 75 percent of NATO…
By Colin Clark