The Pentagon has long worried about the multi-billion dollar price tag that comes along with building a new interceptor field and its infrastructure. Influential lawmakers want a permanent site built that will support close to 1,000 jobs in their districts.
By Paul McLearyNew Army mounted system won’t play favorites when it comes to C5ISR, EW and A-PNT
The CMOSS Mounted Form Factor will facilitate tech insertion for new capabilities while co-existing with the Mounted Family of Computer Systems.
US GSSAP satellites moved to within 10 kilometers of five Russian GEO-based satellites between 2016 and 2018, new Russian space observation data shows.
By Theresa Hitchens
“I think the most important bits are … about the recent Russian RPOs likely being an SSA/intelligence program and possibly supporting the new Burevestnik co-orbital program,” said Brian Weeden, technical advisor to the Secure World Foundation.
By Theresa Hitchens
Offensive missiles are much cheaper than missile defenses. So is the best defense a good offense?
By Colin Clark
The new approach will focus on an urgent but largely unmet threat: Russian and Chinese cruise missiles.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The move could save more than $30 billion over 25 years to invest in high-tech weapons — but Congress is sure to explode in outrage.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
GA-ASI’s MQ-9B: The right UAV for persistence, power, and performance
When assessing the state of the art of unmanned aerial systems, it’s critical to be very clear about what various aircraft can and can’t do – and could never do.
“We need to have any sensor connect to any shooter at very rapid machine-to-machine speed,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said, “if we’re going to multi-domain operations.” But aye, there’s the rub: Are we?
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Every Breaking Defense reader has a good idea how huge the US military’s modernization backlog is. But it sometimes takes a deep dive to show how big the problem is. In a new study by the Center for Strategic & International Studies — embedded below — scholars Gabriel Coll, Andrew Hunter, and Robert Karlen look…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Having wasted tens of billions and almost 30 years since the end of the Cold War, the Army is out of time. But after decades of incremental improvements, its existing weapons — including the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that GE’s new engine will upgrade – are overweight, underpowered, and running out of room to grow. Meanwhile, the Army’s attempts at a high-tech great leap forward kept getting cancelled as unaffordable, unfeasible, or both.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The release of the 2020 defense budget is still over a month away, and it’s already been a wild ride. A look at what has happened, and what might happen next.
By Paul McLeary
Few of the experts we spoke to expect the administration to actually see the full $750 billion President Trump will reportedly propose this week. Between Trump himself calling the figure a “negotiating tactic” and the potential for it driving a $1.2 trillion deficit, the odds are awfully long.
By Paul McLeary
“The waste would be absolutely stunning,” Secretary Spenser said. To cut the already-completed 2020 budget plan so steeply on such little notice, he said, “some of the scenarios will make your eyes water for what we will have to do” in his shipbuilding and maintenance accounts.
By Paul McLeary
While standing up a new Space Force would likely run between $11 billion and $21 billion per year, the vast majority of that money — 96 percent — is already being spent by the Pentagon to run space operations, according to an analysis released Monday by budget expert Todd Harrison at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
By Paul McLeary
More ruthless prioritization, a laser focus on filling key capability shortfalls and better alignment of national, regional, and NATO plans will allow the alliance to solidify its place as the alliance of choice for decades to come.
By Rachel Ellehuus