Colin Clark, the founding editor of Breaking Defense, is now our Indo-Pacific Bureau Chief, based in Sydney, Australia. In addition to his foundational efforts at Breaking Defense, Colin also started DoDBuzz.com, the world’s first all-online defense news website. He’s covered Congress, intelligence and regulatory affairs for Space News; founded and edited the Washington Aerospace Briefing, a newsletter for the space industry; covered national security issues for Congressional Quarterly; and was editor of Defense News. Colin is an avid fisherman, grill genius and wine drinker, all of which are only part of the reason he relishes the opportunity to live in Australia.
NATO HEADQUARTERS: After more than 15 years, NATO will finally grant approval to buy five Global Hawk Block 40s to help plug the gaps in the alliance’s intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance that grew so glaring during the Libya operation. In addition to that important news for the 28 nations that comprise NATO, the alliance will […]
NATO HEADQUARTERS: The People’s Republic of China and NATO hold little known high-level consultations, usually twice a year. “We have had regular exchanges with the Chinese. They are not frequent,” James Appathurai, NATO’s deputy assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy said yesterday. He mentioned the Chinese meetings in passing during a briefing […]
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
PENTAGON: The decision to sideline the Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft was made because its sensors aren’t as good as those of the U-2 and the UAV costs more to operate, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told reporters today. The Global Hawks sensors are “not as capable” as are those of the […]
PENTAGON: In what may come to be called the dawn of the 21st century drawdown of the American military, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today unveiled a budget he hopes balances smaller forces with sustained and far reaching threats. Panetta said the force that will result from the $525 billion budget request for fiscal 2013 will […]
UPDATED: Budget Cuts 8 JHSVs; Two LCS; Two LSDs Retire Early; 1 Virginia Sub Slips Past FYDP; Analyst Says Retirements AND Cuts Mean Service Won’t ‘Ever’ Hit 313 Goal WASHINGTON: The Navy plans to cut a total of 16 ships from its five-year budget, reducing the number of ships funded in fiscal 2013 by three, […]
PENTAGON: Two of the Air Force’s senior leaders argued today that fifth generation aircraft like the F-22 and the F-35 are needed for anti-access operations in what looked like a last-minute service effort to bolster the expensive systems before the 2013 budget is released. Lt. Gen. Christopher Miller, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans […]
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION: You climb up into your new Joint Strike fighter in your flight suit, pull on the flight helmet and say, “Hey darling, It’s Squirt. Set up my screens the way I like em and let’s go get some bad guys.” OK. The latest software in Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter […]
PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION: Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter program is on track to get back on track. The road ahead is long and bound to be bumpy, but after at least two years of almost unremittingly bad news, the program now can claim several important achievements. That seemed to be Defense Secretary Leon […]
WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will lift the probationary status tomorrow that the F-35B has labored under since his predecessor imposed it one year ago. This lifts a dark veil from the program, which many have critics have targeted for elimination. The Pentagon has been rife with rumors about this for two weeks but a […]
A well-trained workforce familiar with cyber security issues can help companies train for emergencies, respond effectively and learn from their experiences. A truly resilient enterprise dynamically innovates and changes its practices, policies, and processes, both in response to changing threats from the outside and changing requirements from the inside. Resilience is achievable, but companies will […]
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
The State and Defense departments scrambled to “correct misperceptions” on Capitol Hill, in foreign capitals and throughout the international space community about American intentions regarding an international space code of conduct. That’s the way a source familiar with the government’s discussions put it. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Defense Department spokesman George Little […]
The Navy and Marines have a network. The Army has its knowledge online. The Air Force wanted to be the cyber czar. The Joint Staff has a network. NSA has a really big network. And then there’s the Department of Homeland Security and everyone else in government. Everyone has a network. How do you make […]
UPDATED: Lockheed Martin Comments On F-35 Testing Finishing Year 15 % Ahead of Schedule PENTAGON: If you want some idea of just how closely the Pentagon’s test and evaluation folks are watching Lockheed Martin’s F-35, just open the newly released annual report and thumb through the 12-plus pages of densely packed information about the aircraft. […]
WASHINGTON: In an important policy shift, the United States will not adopt a European Union code governing space activities, space debris and international data, a senior State Department official said today. At the tail end of a breakfast today with reporters, Ellen Tauscher,undersecretary of State for arms control and international security, said that the U.S. […]