Counterterror Costs Since 911: $2.8 TRILLION And Climbing

Counterterror Costs Since 911: $2.8 TRILLION And Climbing
Counterterror Costs Since 911: $2.8 TRILLION And Climbing

WASHINGTON: After a small group of forlorn men huddled in the middle of Afghanistan succeeded in their plan to strike the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, America declared a global war against them. That war has sucked almost $3 trillion dollars from the US, according to a study by the respected Stimson Center…

DoD, Industry Sparring Over New Cyber Rules, Ellen Lord Says

DoD, Industry Sparring Over New Cyber Rules, Ellen Lord Says
DoD, Industry Sparring Over New Cyber Rules, Ellen Lord Says

Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, told a small group of reporters here Friday morning that her office is trying to put rules in place to protect against buying “software that has Russian or Chinese provenance, for instance, and quite often that’s difficult to tell at first glance because of holding companies,” that move the software through the open market.

Pentagon-Run AI Center Coming, Hypersonics Work in Progress

Pentagon-Run AI Center Coming, Hypersonics Work in Progress
Pentagon-Run AI Center Coming, Hypersonics Work in Progress

The Pentagon wants its new AI center up and running in six months, but is taking a different track on directed energy and hypersonics, Deputy Defense Secretary Shanahan says.

Will Israeli Air Force Buy More F-15s Or F-35s; Intel May Tip Balance

Will Israeli Air Force Buy More F-15s Or F-35s; Intel May Tip Balance
Will Israeli Air Force Buy More F-15s Or F-35s; Intel May Tip Balance

TEL AVIV: The Israeli Air Force (IAF) may delay the acquisition of a third Lockheed Martin F-35 squadron in favor of a fast purchase of additional new versions of the F-15. In recent deliberations within the IAF’s high command, the leading direction was clear – -priority for the additional F-15’s while delaying the purchase of…

Space Acquisition Fixes Will ‘Blow Your Socks Off;’ More On KC-46: SecAF Wilson

Space Acquisition Fixes Will ‘Blow Your Socks Off;’ More On KC-46: SecAF Wilson
Space Acquisition Fixes Will ‘Blow Your Socks Off;’ More On KC-46: SecAF Wilson

There will be organizational alterations, changes to “the way we are doing business” and, perhaps most importantly, Wilson said there will be “cultural change.” They will also try to prioritize what “our go-fast projects are.”

What Trump’s First Nuclear Posture Review Should Do

What Trump’s First Nuclear Posture Review Should Do
What Trump’s First Nuclear Posture Review Should Do

If we’re lucky, the fourth Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) will encourage a reawakening of strategic analysis and renewed efforts to assess the role of nuclear weapons in US national security. If we’re not, and this is more likely, we’ll find ourselves awash in time-worn arguments about assured destruction, limited war, arms limitation, modernization, and morality.…

What Will ‘Actually Solve’ Terrorism Problem?

What Will ‘Actually Solve’ Terrorism Problem?
What Will ‘Actually Solve’ Terrorism Problem?

This is the second of James Kitfield’s in-depth analysis of the continuing challenges posed by America’s so-called “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the height of its powers several years ago, ISIS was attracting an estimated one thousand new foreign fighters each month. While U.S. officials always believed that the U.S.-led coalition would take…

The War Algorithm: The Pentagon’s Bet On The Future Of War

The War Algorithm: The Pentagon’s Bet On The Future Of War
The War Algorithm: The Pentagon’s Bet On The Future Of War

Thinking about robots and war often brings to mind HAL, the apparently well-meaning but ultimately destructive computer in 2001, or the metallic creatures of death in the Terminator series. Today, however, the Pentagon wants to push the concept in a different direction. With advanced adversaries like Russia and China copying the smart weapons, stealth fighters, and…

‘Algorithmic Warfare:’ DSD Work Unleashes AI On Intel Data

‘Algorithmic Warfare:’ DSD Work Unleashes AI On Intel Data
‘Algorithmic Warfare:’ DSD Work Unleashes AI On Intel Data

WASHINGTON: The technophilic Deputy Defense Secretary, Bob Work, just stood up a task force to advance the use of artificial intelligence in military intelligence. This is not SkyNet, an AI with its finger on the launch button. Instead, the first project for this Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team will be developing AI to sort through vast…

Three Chinese Air Force Officers Scout AFA Show — In Civvies

Three Chinese Air Force Officers Scout AFA Show — In Civvies
Three Chinese Air Force Officers Scout AFA Show — In Civvies

ORLANDO: Three PLA Air Force (PLAAF) were identified by a senior defense official roaming this year’s Air Force Association conference here. The exhibit floor here boasts scale models of a wide array of America’s highest tech weaponry. Just outside the main hall, for example, is a large scale model of Boeing and SAAB’s offering for the…

Space Command Readies For War With ‘Space Enterprise Vision’

Space Command Readies For War With ‘Space Enterprise Vision’
Space Command Readies For War With ‘Space Enterprise Vision’

WASHINGTON: Air Force Space Command has created a blueprint for fighting and winning wars in space, known by the innocuous title of the Space Enterprise Vision. The existence of the plan is not classified but many of its working elements are. The SEV is “an all-encompassing look at all the things we need to do to create…

Spend More, Do More: Stoltenberg, Carter To NATO; Russia, Note New Battalions

Spend More, Do More: Stoltenberg, Carter To NATO; Russia, Note New Battalions
Spend More, Do More: Stoltenberg, Carter To NATO; Russia, Note New Battalions

NATO HQ: If there’s one undercurrent to all the discussions here and on Ash Carter‘s flight from Washington about NATO, it is that the US is — once again — calling on Europe to do more to defend itself. With the current imbalance of spending at stark levels — America provides 75 percent of NATO…

NGA Presses To Speed, Improve Acquisition, Requirements

NGA Presses To Speed, Improve Acquisition, Requirements
NGA Presses To Speed, Improve Acquisition, Requirements

GEOINT: Improving how the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency develops requirements and communicates them to industry — and within the agency — is a top priority for the NGA, according to its deputy director. The agency clearly wants to hear from industry just what it can do to improve its acquisition system. It held an open…

NRO Tries New Automatic Systems That Analyze Data & Move Satellites

NRO Tries New Automatic Systems That Analyze Data & Move Satellites
NRO Tries New Automatic Systems That Analyze Data & Move Satellites

UPDATED: NRO Confirms SpaceX Launch Buy  GEOINT: The Pentagon’s Third Offset strategy puts much faith in artificial intelligence and machine-to-machine communications. The National Reconnaissance Office is already working on making those a reality, deploying prototypes of its new next-generation ground systems, Director Betty Sapp said here this morning. “We anticipate fielding a ground system able to direct…