Philippines, Japan near long-range missile milestones as they arm up for China

Philippines, Japan near long-range missile milestones as they arm up for China
Philippines, Japan near long-range missile milestones as they arm up for China

By the end of March, the Philippines expects to have its first BrahMos anti-ship cruise missiles, and Japan plans to begin training its personnel to operate Tomahawk missiles.

Aussies boost long-range strike with $1.7B AUD buy of 200 Tomahawks, 60 AARGM-ERs

Aussies boost long-range strike with $1.7B AUD buy of 200 Tomahawks, 60 AARGM-ERs
Aussies boost long-range strike with $1.7B AUD buy of 200 Tomahawks, 60 AARGM-ERs

“Importantly, one of the first decisions of the Albanese Labor government after the Defense Strategic Review was to allocate $4.1 billion for long-range strike and missile manufacturing over the next four years,” Pat Conroy, defense industry minister, said.

US Fires INF-Busting Missile, First Test Since Treaty Signed

US Fires INF-Busting Missile, First Test Since Treaty Signed
US Fires INF-Busting Missile, First Test Since Treaty Signed

The test puts the nail in the coffin of the INF Treaty, which the US withdrew from earlier this month.

HASC Seapower Chair Wittman Presses For Hypersonic Focus

HASC Seapower Chair Wittman Presses For Hypersonic Focus
HASC Seapower Chair Wittman Presses For Hypersonic Focus

  For years, the Pentagon has dreamed and worked to build what it has called Prompt Global Strike, The idea is simple: to build a hypersonic weapon that can destroy targets anywhere on earth within an hour of getting targeting data and permission to launch. The technology and the physics are not simple; nor are they cheap.…

Raytheon Touts Cross Domain Solutions For Navy

Raytheon Touts Cross Domain Solutions For Navy
Raytheon Touts Cross Domain Solutions For Navy

As the surface Navy intensively strives to achieve the cross domain capabilities so essential to warfighting success against a near-peer competitor, Raytheon is using its wide spectrum of defense technologies to support those efforts. Modern warfare increasingly requires operations across all of the five domains of land air, surface, subsurface, space and cyberspace. A key…

Korean War 2.0? The Signs To Watch

Korean War 2.0? The Signs To Watch
Korean War 2.0? The Signs To Watch

After threatening to rain four missiles around Guam, North Korea’s pudgy leader, Kim Jong-un appeared to back off today. The (spoof) official North Korean News Agency issued a fabulous tweet describing it, declaring: “Esteemed General Kim Jong-Un reprieves US colony of Guam, citing concern for ocelots and sea turtles. Fate of Los Angeles remains unclear.”…

What The HASC Seapower Mark Means For The Navy

What The HASC Seapower Mark Means For The Navy
What The HASC Seapower Mark Means For The Navy

This marks the first of our monthly op-eds by Rep. J. Randy Forbes, chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee. We will send a Tweet before posting each one so you’ve got some notice. Read on! The Editor At the start of my first column, I would like to thank the editors of Breaking…

Electric Boat Bets on Sub Budget Boost

Electric Boat Bets on Sub Budget Boost
Electric Boat Bets on Sub Budget Boost

[UPDATED with total hiring figures] WASHINGTON: Navy demand for submarines is so strong that sub-builder Electric Boat is betting on growth, despite the bleak budget outlook for defense in general. Connecticut congressman Joe Courtney, the top Democrat on the House seapower subcommittee, exulted in a statement this morning that his home state yard expects to add…

Navy Sub Program Stumbles: SSN North Dakota Delayed By Launch Tube Troubles

Navy Sub Program Stumbles: SSN North Dakota Delayed By Launch Tube Troubles
Navy Sub Program Stumbles: SSN North Dakota Delayed By Launch Tube Troubles

Problems with a new kind of missile launcher will delay the commissioning of the attack submarine North Dakota, the Navy announced this afternoon. That’s a significant stumble for the Virginia-class submarine program, whose steadily decreasing costs and construction time per boat have become a point of pride for the Navy and shipbuilder Electric Boat alike.…

Navy Seeks Rail Guns, Lasers, Cruise Missiles To Improve Pacific Firepower

Navy Seeks Rail Guns, Lasers, Cruise Missiles To Improve Pacific Firepower
Navy Seeks Rail Guns, Lasers, Cruise Missiles To Improve Pacific Firepower

CRYSTAL CITY: “I’ve never wanted to enter any tactical scenario where all I had is a defensive capability. It’s a losing proposition,” said the chief of Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Locklear. “You will defend yourself until you’re dead.” That was the PACOM commander’s blunt and public response when I asked him about the chronic imbalance between…

Rep. Forbes On The Shrinking Sub Fleet: HASC Hearing Preview

Rep. Forbes On The Shrinking Sub Fleet: HASC Hearing Preview
Rep. Forbes On The Shrinking Sub Fleet: HASC Hearing Preview

[UPDATED]: WASHINGTON: Tomorrow is a big day for Navy submarines on Capitol Hill. A hearing of the House Armed Services seapower and projections forces subcommittee will focus on some of the knottiest issues in undersea warfare: – staying ahead of the Russians and Chinese. – getting extra funding for the Navy’s new ballistic missile submarine,…

Run Silent, Go Deep: Drone-Launching Subs To Be Navy’s ‘Wide Receivers’

Run Silent, Go Deep: Drone-Launching Subs To Be Navy’s ‘Wide Receivers’
Run Silent, Go Deep: Drone-Launching Subs To Be Navy’s ‘Wide Receivers’

WASHINGTON: This Saturday the Navy will christen its newest nuclear-powered submarine, the $2.6 billion USS Minnesota at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia. Countless movies have cemented the popular image of subs as stealthy underwater killers, stalking hapless surface vessels with periscope and torpedo. But today’s Navy is experimenting with launching robotic mini-subs and even…

Virginia-Class Subs Could Bolster Cruise Missile Fleet, But Where’s the Money?

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Florida was lying in wait, quietly submerged off the Libyan coast, when the order came from then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to launch its cruise missiles.It was the evening of March 19. Two days before, the U.N. Security Council had unanimously voted to approve Resolution 1973, authorizing a no-fly zone over…