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

Frank Kendall, Pentagon Acquisition Czar, At Farnborough On F-35, Arms Exports, Drones

Frank Kendall, Pentagon Acquisition Czar, At Farnborough On F-35, Arms Exports, Drones
Frank Kendall, Pentagon Acquisition Czar, At Farnborough On F-35, Arms Exports, Drones

We’ll let this video speak for itself. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, spoke with Breaking Defense at Farnborough this afternoon.

Farnborough Fancy Flights, Vol. 1!

Farnborough Fancy Flights, Vol. 1!
Farnborough Fancy Flights, Vol. 1!

Ah, the lyric wonders of bad-ass fighters and huge civilian airlines flying close to the found and high into the heavens. It’s Farnborough, baby!

F-35 Fleet Grounding Lifted; Farnborough Flights ‘Likely’

F-35 Fleet Grounding Lifted; Farnborough Flights ‘Likely’
F-35 Fleet Grounding Lifted; Farnborough Flights ‘Likely’

UPDATED: Frank Kendall Says Decisions Coming Soon on Farnborough Flights FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW: An official statement from the Pentagon is on the way but I can confirm that the order grounding the F-35 fleet has been lifted and the pilots waiting on 24-hour standby may well be scrambling fo their planes as I type. Just…

UCLASS RFP Out ‘Soon’ As Joint Staff, Navy, Hill Battle Over Requirements

UCLASS RFP Out ‘Soon’ As Joint Staff, Navy, Hill Battle Over Requirements
UCLASS RFP Out ‘Soon’ As Joint Staff, Navy, Hill Battle Over Requirements

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW: The Navy’s carrier-based drone known as UCLASS continues to face challenges from the Joint Staff, parts of the Navy and, perhaps most importantly, Capitol HIll. While the head of the program, Rear Adm. Mat Winter, told reporters here yesterday that a Request for Proposal will be issued “very soon,” the program’s requirements…

Farnborough Begins With Many Americans, Few Russians And No F-35, Yet

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW: The trains ran a wee late this morning but the weather was glorious, a perfect English summer day that would have suited the F-35 to a tee for its foreign debut. Perhaps the most arresting fact of this show is that while the American military was absent from the last Paris Air…

F-35 May Still Visit Farnborough; All 98 Engines Inspected

F-35 May Still Visit Farnborough; All 98 Engines Inspected
F-35 May Still Visit Farnborough; All 98 Engines Inspected

FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW:  Frank Kendall, the head Pentagon buyer, appeared here today on a high-powered panel of senior Pentagon civilians and industry leaders, and averred that the F-35A fire last month does not pose a systemic risk to the program. Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, head of the F-35 program, told a packed room…

The $10B Next Generation Jammer Is ‘On Track, On Schedule’

The $10B Next Generation Jammer Is ‘On Track, On Schedule’
The $10B Next Generation Jammer Is ‘On Track, On Schedule’

LONDON: Farnborough is an air show, but many of the briefings scheduled by American companies this year focus on electronic warfare and missiles — not airplanes. Raytheon, winner of the Next Generation Jammer competition, and the other four defense giants know that much of the money to be made in the next decade will come…

Kendall ID’s F-35 Fire Cause: ‘Not Systemic’

Kendall ID’s F-35 Fire Cause: ‘Not Systemic’
Kendall ID’s F-35 Fire Cause: ‘Not Systemic’

LONDON: The head of Pentagon acquisition told reporters here today that “we do not see at this point what I call a systemic problem” resulting from the F-35A fire that led to the grounding of the fleet. “We understand to a degree what happened here. The question is why did it happen,” according to reporting by…

Farnborough Fancies: The F-35, Expectations And Illusions

Farnborough Fancies: The F-35, Expectations And Illusions
Farnborough Fancies: The F-35, Expectations And Illusions

LONDON: Sitting in my room here across the street from the building where D-Day was planned and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower huddled for months worrying over those shallow beaches and terrible cliffs, it’s easy to lose sight of the current agonistes faced by Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon leadership and our allies about the F-35A fire.…

‘Boy, Do I want To Get Away From Being The Trillion Dollar Airplane’: Bogdan

‘Boy, Do I want To Get Away From Being The Trillion Dollar Airplane’: Bogdan
‘Boy, Do I want To Get Away From Being The Trillion Dollar Airplane’: Bogdan

FAIRFORD, UK: Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan hates being labeled the man who oversees the trillion dollar jet fighter, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter as you can tell from the headline. Breaking Defense readers will remember that this estimate is extends more than half a century and includes such assumptions as the Marines will…

US Nuke Focus Has Drifted ‘A Little:’ Hagel

US Nuke Focus Has Drifted ‘A Little:’ Hagel
US Nuke Focus Has Drifted ‘A Little:’ Hagel

Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, during a two-day round of base visits to highlight top budgetary concerns, told an all-hands gathering of nuclear submariners today that America’s military has let its focus on nuclear issues “drift” under pressure from the last 13 years of land wars. “Over the years we’ve let our focus on the nuclear…

No Decisions Yet On F-35B UK Flights; Tomorrow Looms

No Decisions Yet On F-35B UK Flights; Tomorrow Looms
No Decisions Yet On F-35B UK Flights; Tomorrow Looms

WASHINGTON: The F-35Bs have not left Patuxent River Naval Air Station to make their way across the Atlantic Ocean. After an all–hands meeting this morning to discuss the issue of securing a waiver or permission to fly from NAVAIR, Naval Air Systems Command — who must decide if the Marine Corps planes are airworthy —…

Northrop Takes The Lead From BAE On $11B T-X Trainer

Northrop Takes The Lead From BAE On $11B T-X Trainer
Northrop Takes The Lead From BAE On $11B T-X Trainer

WASHINGTON: While Northrop Grumman isn’t doing much at the upcoming Farnborough Air Show — at least publicly — they certainly shook things up today with their announcement that they are swapping places with BAE Systems to take the lead role in the competition for the $11 billion, 350-plane T-X trainer program. While the BAE-Northrop team…

F-35 Fleet Grounded: Air Show Flights May Still Happen

F-35 Fleet Grounded: Air Show Flights May Still Happen
F-35 Fleet Grounded: Air Show Flights May Still Happen

UPDATED: F-35s Grounded, Say OSD, JPO. Still Hoping For Air Show Flights (Thursday 9 pm) WASHINGTON: The Fourth of July may not be much of a holiday for the pilots and program officials trying to decide if the F-35 can fly safely to Britain after the recent fire at Eglin Air Force Base. UPDATE One…

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