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
AUSA: The Honorable Shyu, as everyone in the military calls the head of Army acquisition, is often bright, humorous and insightful. Today, she got passionate in public, clearly frustrated at the painful limits that the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration have forced her to adopt. American military power has traditionally rested on technological overmatch. We…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: Imagine reconnaissance teams operating in enemy territory being able to hump in their own tiny signals intelligence (SIGINT) sensors, able to gather intel on both electronic emissions (ELINT) and communications (COMINT). Ok, they don’t have to hump them in because each one weighs roughly two-and-half pounds. Sound like science fiction? Well, DRS, the American…
By Colin Clark
UPDATED: Head of Air Force ISR, Lt. Gen. Otto, Says IG Info Out of Date WASHINGTON: The Air Force planned to buy 401 Reaper drones for $76.8 billion but didn’t know why it was going to buy that many, the Pentagon’s Inspector General says in a new report. “This occurred because Air Combat Command officials did not: follow…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: For decades, critics have rightly nailed the Pentagon for the fact it doesn’t know how much money it’s spending or where that money really goes. Pressure has grown and grown for the Pentagon to prove it is worthy of the money taxpayers grant it by producing books an accountant can comb through and produce a…
By Colin Clark
UPDATED: Former Defense OMB Head Begs To Differ On Estimates CORRECTED Adams’ Estimate Is For A Year, Not A Month WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has been pegging the operations against the terror group known as ISIL at $7 million to $10 million a day. If you extrapolate that across a year it comes very close to…
By Colin Clark and Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
PENTAGON: The services’ draft budgets delivered to the Office of Secretary of Defense early this month are probably being shredded in light of the campaign in Iraq and Syria against the terrorist group known as ISIL. “If you’re asking me, are we going to have budget problems, the answer is yes,” the president’s top military advisor told reporters this…
By Colin Clark
PENTAGON; The outlines of the campaign against ISIL are beginning to come into focus. The bombings and missile attacks against ISIL in Iraq are largely tactical, designed to provide the Iraqi military with some breathing room until they and the Kurdish peshmerga can mount effective counterattacks to drive ISIL out of their territory. But the bombings and missile strikes in…
By Colin Clark
PENTAGON: The primary target of last night’s air strikes in Syria appears to have been the Khorasan group, an al Qaeda offshoot that was plotting what appeared to be “imminent attacks” against Western targets that may have included the United States. The Khorasan group received “the majority of” the 47 Tomahawk cruise missile strikes launched by the United…
By Colin Clark
UPDATED: Official Confirmation F-22s Were Used. Flew From Regional Base. WASHINGTON: While we don’t yet have much detail on how many were used, what munitions were used or what targets they hit, F-22s were used in last night’s air strikes in Syria against ISIL and al Qaeda. F-22s flew in the second of three waves…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: The F-35’s long-term costs may “not be affordable” and appear to be substantially higher than those of the existing combat aircraft fleets that the Joint Strike Fighter will replace, the Government Acocuntability Office says in a draft report. “The annual F-35 operating and support costs are estimated to be considerably higher than the combined…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: We’ve got bus-sized satellites that can probably see any blemishes on Chairman Mao’s badly rebuilt face from space (didn’t know about that, did you?). We’ve got U-2s with their superb sensors watching the Chinese coast (for now). We’ve got P-8s scanning the seas for Chinese submarines and testing their radar. Our subs — hopefully — cruise…
By Colin Clark
AUSA: The Honorable Shyu, as everyone in the military calls the head of Army acquisition, is often bright, humorous and insightful. Today, she got passionate in public, clearly frustrated at the painful limits that the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration have forced her to adopt. American military power has traditionally rested on technological overmatch. We…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: Imagine reconnaissance teams operating in enemy territory being able to hump in their own tiny signals intelligence (SIGINT) sensors, able to gather intel on both electronic emissions (ELINT) and communications (COMINT). Ok, they don’t have to hump them in because each one weighs roughly two-and-half pounds. Sound like science fiction? Well, DRS, the American…
By Colin ClarkUPDATED: Head of Air Force ISR, Lt. Gen. Otto, Says IG Info Out of Date WASHINGTON: The Air Force planned to buy 401 Reaper drones for $76.8 billion but didn’t know why it was going to buy that many, the Pentagon’s Inspector General says in a new report. “This occurred because Air Combat Command officials did not: follow…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: For decades, critics have rightly nailed the Pentagon for the fact it doesn’t know how much money it’s spending or where that money really goes. Pressure has grown and grown for the Pentagon to prove it is worthy of the money taxpayers grant it by producing books an accountant can comb through and produce a…
By Colin ClarkUPDATED: Former Defense OMB Head Begs To Differ On Estimates CORRECTED Adams’ Estimate Is For A Year, Not A Month WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has been pegging the operations against the terror group known as ISIL at $7 million to $10 million a day. If you extrapolate that across a year it comes very close to…
By Colin Clark and Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.PENTAGON: The services’ draft budgets delivered to the Office of Secretary of Defense early this month are probably being shredded in light of the campaign in Iraq and Syria against the terrorist group known as ISIL. “If you’re asking me, are we going to have budget problems, the answer is yes,” the president’s top military advisor told reporters this…
By Colin ClarkPENTAGON; The outlines of the campaign against ISIL are beginning to come into focus. The bombings and missile attacks against ISIL in Iraq are largely tactical, designed to provide the Iraqi military with some breathing room until they and the Kurdish peshmerga can mount effective counterattacks to drive ISIL out of their territory. But the bombings and missile strikes in…
By Colin ClarkPENTAGON: The primary target of last night’s air strikes in Syria appears to have been the Khorasan group, an al Qaeda offshoot that was plotting what appeared to be “imminent attacks” against Western targets that may have included the United States. The Khorasan group received “the majority of” the 47 Tomahawk cruise missile strikes launched by the United…
By Colin ClarkUPDATED: Official Confirmation F-22s Were Used. Flew From Regional Base. WASHINGTON: While we don’t yet have much detail on how many were used, what munitions were used or what targets they hit, F-22s were used in last night’s air strikes in Syria against ISIL and al Qaeda. F-22s flew in the second of three waves…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: The F-35’s long-term costs may “not be affordable” and appear to be substantially higher than those of the existing combat aircraft fleets that the Joint Strike Fighter will replace, the Government Acocuntability Office says in a draft report. “The annual F-35 operating and support costs are estimated to be considerably higher than the combined…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: We’ve got bus-sized satellites that can probably see any blemishes on Chairman Mao’s badly rebuilt face from space (didn’t know about that, did you?). We’ve got U-2s with their superb sensors watching the Chinese coast (for now). We’ve got P-8s scanning the seas for Chinese submarines and testing their radar. Our subs — hopefully — cruise…
By Colin Clark