Navy Kicks Off New LCS Deployments; Training Questions Remain

Navy Kicks Off New LCS Deployments; Training Questions Remain
Navy Kicks Off New LCS Deployments; Training Questions Remain

WASHINGTON: After years of delays, budget fights, and searing debates over the role that the ship will play, three Littoral Combat Ships will head out on their first deployments this year. “We’re deploying LCS this year. It’s happening. Two ships are going on the West Coast, one ship is going on the East Coast,” said…

SAIC’s Got No Regrets On Armored Vehicle Losses

SAIC’s Got No Regrets On Armored Vehicle Losses
SAIC’s Got No Regrets On Armored Vehicle Losses

SAIC not a traditional heavy-metal manufacturer and it shouldn’t be judged like one, CEO Tony Moraco and COO Nazzic Keene told me.

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile
Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

It’s a major shift after decades in which submarines focused on projecting power ashore, with their only anti-ship weapons being their rarely-used torpedoes. Driving the change: increasing anxiety about China.

Government ‘Bug Bounty’ Payouts To Freelance Hackers Up 125%: HackerOne

Government ‘Bug Bounty’ Payouts To Freelance Hackers Up 125%: HackerOne
Government ‘Bug Bounty’ Payouts To Freelance Hackers Up 125%: HackerOne

The Pentagon’s willingness to pay freelance hackers to report cyber vulnerabilities has opened the floodgates for similar programs from other agencies, report the organizers of the original Hack The Pentagon. San Francisco-based HackerOne now counts clients ranging from the US Air Force, Army, and Defense Travel System to the Singaporean Ministry of Defense and the…

Hey Navy, LCS Is Too Big To Hide

Hey Navy, LCS Is Too Big To Hide
Hey Navy, LCS Is Too Big To Hide

The debate over the operational relevance of the controversial Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) continues. The Navy has again spoken up for the much-maligned platform, suggesting to Breaking Defense that the LCS could operate in the Pacific like the PT boats of World War II or cavalry units in a Napoleonic army. Rear Adm. Donald Gabrielson said…

LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow

LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow
LCS In Pacific: Run Silent, Run Shallow

What good is a little ship in a big war on a big ocean? It can hide behind islands and in shallow waters, sniping at the enemy fleet — much like the PT boats of World War II or skirmishers in a Napoleonic army. That’s the US Navy’s newest argument for its much-criticized Littoral Combat…

Heavy Competition For Light Tank: SAIC & Singapore Vs. BAE, GDLS

Heavy Competition For Light Tank: SAIC & Singapore Vs. BAE, GDLS
Heavy Competition For Light Tank: SAIC & Singapore Vs. BAE, GDLS

If the stars align for defense contractor SAIC, the US Army and Marine Corps will soon be buying hundreds of armored vehicles designed in Singapore. Yesterday, six months after joining forces for the first time on the Marines’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle competition – and just four days before the massive Association of the US Army…

CJCS Dunford Talks Turkey, Iran, Afghan Troop Numbers & Daesh

CJCS Dunford Talks Turkey, Iran, Afghan Troop Numbers & Daesh
CJCS Dunford Talks Turkey, Iran, Afghan Troop Numbers & Daesh

Breaking Defense contributor James Kitfield spoke with Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during Dunford’s swing through Japan, Singapore, Australia, Wake Island, and Hawaii. BD readers know that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis promised Sen. John McCain yesterday that America would get a new Afghan strategy by mid-July. In this second part of Kitfield’s interview,…

US Military Advantage Eroding Coz Of BCA: CJCS Dunford

US Military Advantage Eroding Coz Of BCA: CJCS Dunford
US Military Advantage Eroding Coz Of BCA: CJCS Dunford

Breaking Defense contributor James Kitfield spoke with Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during Dunford’s swing through Japan, Singapore, Australia, Wake Island, and Hawaii. Dunford testifies before Congress this week on the administration’s defense budget request. Most important, the chairman tells us he will make the case that the Budget Control Act’s caps “have to be…

SecDef Mattis To Tap Former Army FAO For DASD South Asia

SecDef Mattis To Tap Former Army FAO For DASD South Asia
SecDef Mattis To Tap Former Army FAO For DASD South Asia

WASHINGTON: One of the more important national security jobs in this town, deputy assistant defense secretary for south and southeast asia, will be filled by a former Army officer with extensive foreign affairs and counterinsurgency experience, a well placed source tells us. Retired Col. Joe Felter, who now works at Stanford’s Hoover Institute, “led the…

SAIC, Singaporeans Challenge BAE For Marine Corps ACV: Tests To Begin

SAIC, Singaporeans Challenge BAE For Marine Corps ACV: Tests To Begin
SAIC, Singaporeans Challenge BAE For Marine Corps ACV: Tests To Begin

An upstart odd couple has challenged armored vehicle giant BAE for the right to build the Marine Corps’ swimming tank. One is Singapore’s ST Kinetics, maker of the Singapore Armed Forces‘ amphibious Terrex vehicle. The other is McLean, Va.-based SAIC, best known as a service contractor, which is working with the Singaporeans to build a…

Mattis Heads To Japan, Korea: Why Asian Alliances Will Survive TPP’s Death

Mattis Heads To Japan, Korea: Why Asian Alliances Will Survive TPP’s Death
Mattis Heads To Japan, Korea: Why Asian Alliances Will Survive TPP’s Death

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership just two days ago, but this morning, multiple experts and one four-star general agreed that America’s Pacific alliances — except perhaps the Philippines — would survive and even thrive. A few hours later, aptly enough, the Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary James Mattis, the new administration’s most outspoken…

Best Of 2016: China Rising

Best Of 2016: China Rising
Best Of 2016: China Rising

That China is a growing threat — even an “enemy” — is one thing incoming president Donald Trump and the Washington national security establishment agree on. But just how dangerous is China’s increasing military strength and international assertiveness? What painful historical experiences drive Chinese thinking in ways a Westerner might not understand? And what’s the…

SecAF James: Lessons From The Pacific

SecAF James: Lessons From The Pacific
SecAF James: Lessons From The Pacific

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James traveled through Asia, visiting Indonesia, India, Singapore, and the Philippines at the end of the summer. We didn’t hear a great deal about the trip in the US at the time but her meetings with her defense counterparts clearly impressed. In this op-ed, James shares the lessons she learned. China…