Colin Clark

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.com

Stories by Colin Clark

US Military Losing Edge In Space: Kendall

US Military Losing Edge In Space: Kendall
US Military Losing Edge In Space: Kendall

NEWSEUM: After more than a year of saying that the United States is losing its relative edge in military technology to China and Russia, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer upped the ante today and said that the top American advantage — space — “is particularly bad” because both Russia and China are fielding a suite of anti-satellite capabilities.…

‘Goodness’ From Falling Space Budget; Outsource WGS C2 Next Year?

‘Goodness’ From Falling Space Budget; Outsource WGS C2 Next Year?
‘Goodness’ From Falling Space Budget; Outsource WGS C2 Next Year?

CAPITOL HILL:  The space community harbors many incredibly bright people, including a very few who are willing to say what they really think in public. A full house at the Capitol Hill Club was treated last week to a bravura performance of straight talk by Dave Madden, executive director of the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.…

GAO Says Weapons Costs ‘Lowest In Decade’; Portfolio Shrinks

GAO Says Weapons Costs ‘Lowest In Decade’; Portfolio Shrinks
GAO Says Weapons Costs ‘Lowest In Decade’; Portfolio Shrinks

WASHINGTON: The overall cost for Pentagon’s weapons buying is at the lowest it’s been a decade, says the Government Accountability Office in its respected annual assessment of the military’s major programs. But that overall result, which might seem to cheer exponents of acquisition reform and of smaller Pentagon budgets, contains two smaller points well worth…

Threat Data Biggest Worry For F-35A’s IOC; But It ‘Will Be On Time’

Threat Data Biggest Worry For F-35A’s IOC; But It ‘Will Be On Time’
Threat Data Biggest Worry For F-35A’s IOC; But It ‘Will Be On Time’

PENTAGON: The F-35‘s highly sensitive sensors suffer a basic problem right now: They often aren’t sure what they are detecting. That results in a high rate of false alarms. The key to fixing this lies in building highly complex data files — what we can colloquially call the threat library — and integrating them with the Joint Strike…

Close Air Support Summit Sparks Nod To Textron’s Scorpion

Close Air Support Summit Sparks Nod To Textron’s Scorpion
Close Air Support Summit Sparks Nod To Textron’s Scorpion

PENTAGON: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Marine Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford. National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Frank Grass. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Force Air Combat Command. That’s a lot of stars and command authority gathered in one place and they all came together at…

Who’s Right On C-130 AMP: The Congressman Or Air Force Lawyers?

Who’s Right On C-130 AMP: The Congressman Or Air Force Lawyers?
Who’s Right On C-130 AMP: The Congressman Or Air Force Lawyers?

UPDATED: Corrects Cost Per Plane To $3.8M; Holmes “Misspoke;” Adds Enhanced Mode S Upgrade CAPITOL HILL: The law is the law. But the law must be written and it must then be interpreted in practice. Ay, there’s the rub. Add the National Guard, local politics, aging C-130s, and a wobbly defense budget in which hard choices must…

Build A ‘Department Of Cyber:’ Former DNI McConnell

Build A ‘Department Of Cyber:’ Former DNI McConnell
Build A ‘Department Of Cyber:’ Former DNI McConnell

PENTAGON CITY: Sen. Susan Collins has a bill about how to improve cyber sharing that should go to markup next week and she spoke about the challenges cyber poses to the government this morning at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance annual conference here. Three former directors of National Intelligence — John Negroponte, Mike McConnell and…

House GOP Splits On Defense Sequestration

House GOP Splits On Defense Sequestration
House GOP Splits On Defense Sequestration

CAPITOL HILL: Tensions within the GOP over the mandatory budget caps set by the Budget Control Act burst into the open today. The chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee repeatedly warned colleagues and the leaders of the Air Force this morning that they had no choice and must live within the Budget Control Act’s spending limits. Then,…

McCain Points To ‘Dramatic Change’ In Chinese-Built Islands

McCain Points To ‘Dramatic Change’ In Chinese-Built Islands
McCain Points To ‘Dramatic Change’ In Chinese-Built Islands

WASHINGTON: What began with a tiny artificial island built by China to stake a concrete claim in the South China Sea is fast on its way to becoming 600 acres of at least seven islands spread across the South China Sea. One of the most impressive is so-called Fiery Cross Island, the permanent structure above complete with…

Whither Aerospace Industries Association?

Whither Aerospace Industries Association?
Whither Aerospace Industries Association?

WASHINGTON: The Aerospace Industries Association is routinely ranked among the top influence shops in this town. Its leader plays an important role in ensuring AIA speaks and acts with a clear and guided voice. The association’s leader for the last seven years, former FAA administrator, Marion Blakey, is leaving and the association’s large companies, who dominate…

Heritage: US Can Barely Handle Two MRCs; All But Air Force ‘Marginal’

Heritage: US Can Barely Handle Two MRCs; All But Air Force ‘Marginal’
Heritage: US Can Barely Handle Two MRCs; All But Air Force ‘Marginal’

WASHINGTON: The conservative Heritage Foundation has published an ambitious Index of Military Strength, which — not surprisingly — finds that the United States military is not beefy enough to manage the many threats it faces around the world. The core finding of the well-written analysis is that the US military could handle two major theater wars…

Gen. Welsh Defends F-35 For Close Air Support; Hopes Summit Will ‘Reset’

Gen. Welsh Defends F-35 For Close Air Support; Hopes Summit Will ‘Reset’
Gen. Welsh Defends F-35 For Close Air Support; Hopes Summit Will ‘Reset’

UPDATED: Sen. McCain SASC Spox Rejects Air Force Rationale For Retiring A-10 ORLANDO: Sequestration. Base closures. Readiness. Modernization. ISIL. Russia. The list of challenges faced by Air Force leaders is long. But none may be more intractable or politically difficult than retiring the A-10 “Warthog” close air support fleet. The Air Force has never really wanted to…

Air Force Chief Welsh Signals Shift To Modernization, AKA Weapons

Air Force Chief Welsh Signals Shift To Modernization, AKA Weapons
Air Force Chief Welsh Signals Shift To Modernization, AKA Weapons

ORLANDO: More than half-way into his tenure as Air Force Chief of staff, Gen. Mark Welsh has shifted focus from the service’s airmen to its weapons, declaring today that “we must modernize the Air Force. This isn’t optional. We must do it. And It will be painful because we will have to make hard choices.” Welsh’s speech…

Air Force To Hold Close Air Support Summit; May Need New Weapon

Air Force To Hold Close Air Support Summit; May Need New Weapon
Air Force To Hold Close Air Support Summit; May Need New Weapon

ORLANDO: The Air Force, under heavy pressure from Congress to keep the A-10 Warthog in the air, will hold a mini-summit with the Army, Navy and Marines to figure out the best ways to do Close Air Support, the politically sensitive mission of aircraft protecting troops on the ground. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat…

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