WASHINGTON: “When does that moment come when their program matures and goes across those redlines? At the pace we’re on, it’s just a matter of time. If something doesn’t change, it will be inevitable these redlines are met — if there’s another test of a warhead.” Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared to document one of the redlines he…
By Colin ClarkThe Army’s embattled missile defense network, IBCS, passed a major field test at Yuma Proving Ground in October, contractor Northrop Grumman announced today. In stark contrast to chronic software crashes early on, the command-and-control system accurately tracked everything from drones to helicopters to fighter jets, both Army aircraft and Marine ones. (It’s hit ballistic and…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.The Navy’s Force Structure Assessment (FSA) calls for a 355-ship fleet, ultimately growing to a force of 653 ships. However, the Navy knows that a 653-ship fleet, outfitted with the proper weapon systems, is simply financially unattainable. But the world has become more dangerous in the last eight years and a credible U.S. naval deterrence remains…
By Rep. Rob WittmanCORRECTED: Changed Stealth To Fifth Generation Fighters In Fifth Paragraph. WASHINGTON: Can the Christmas holidays come quickly enough? Republicans, hungry for their first major legislative accomplishment since the 2016 elections, are focused above and beyond all else on changes to tax law, leaving a dangerous vacuum into which a shutdown could fall. Last week, the…
By Colin Clarkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK0GGTyoWPc The contest to build Canada’s next warship just kicked into high gear, and it’s a preview of the US Navy’s own frigate competition, with many of the same players. Earlier today — ahead of other competitors and the official deadline — Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems officially submitted the Type 26 frigate, which BAE…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.SUFFOLK, VA: Inside one of six large rooms in Lockheed Martin’s Lighthouse complex here, flanked by a phalanx of huge TV and other screens, an earnest conversation between a cyber warrior and a “commander” plays out. We’re in the middle of a three-day wargame, one of a series of exercises to help develop the early stages…
By Colin ClarkIn an extraordinary international response, a dozen nations have poured assets into the stormy South Atlantic to help find and save 44 Argentine submariners from the missing sub San Juan. It’s a stark contrast to the last great submarine disaster, when Russia was slow to accept international help for the stricken Kursk in 2000 and lost all…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: NATO troops will stand and fight if Russia attacks the Baltic States or Poland, Maj. Gen. William Hickman said last week. The prospect of combat — like that of being hanged — has concentrated NATO’s mind, changing plans, training, and future tactics. “There are US troops, French, British troops in these countries, standing tall,”…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: An unnamed contractor in Australia was hacked by an unattributed hacker who stole what the BBC says was “sensitive” information about the F-35 and other Antipodean weapon systems. “It could be one of a number of different actors,” Christopher Pyne, the minister for defense industry, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday. “It could be…
By Colin ClarkIf 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…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: Don’t worry about Russia building a killer robot someday. Worry about the radio-jamming drones they have today. Despite a few grandiose claims and snazzy videos of robots shooting guns, Russia remains behind “the Chinese, Iranians, and the Turks” in developing armed unmanned systems, let alone the United States, CNA expert Samuel Bendett said this…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: That rumble under your feet you sensed this morning was the earthquake caused by the decision of one of America’s closest allies, Saudis Arabia, to join Turkey in buying Russia’s vaunted S-400 surface to air missile system. The announcement carried extra diplomatic weight as Saudi King Salman was visiting Russia when the Saudis made…
By Colin Clark
The shift from low-intensity land wars and the concepts of operations associated with them to getting ready for higher tempo and higher intensity operations are key to the transformation of U.S. and allied forces. The challenge facing the liberal democracies was well put in a recent presentation by a senior Finnish defense official: “The timeline…
By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake