Stories by Otto Kreisher
The Obama administration late Thursday announced yet another attempt to settle the prolonged and increasingly bitter clash with Japan over the controversial and expensive plan to relocate thousands of U.S. Marines off the crowded island of Okinawa. Senior defense and State Department officials said the revised agreement would strengthen the critical alliance between the U.S.…
By Otto Kreisher
WASHINGTON: I walked past a sandy desert, a littoral waterway and a steamy jungle and watched a human-like robot extinguish a shipboard fire, all in about an hour and without leaving town. It was possible because the Navy has opened a new Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR) on the grounds of the Naval Research…
By Otto Kreisher
The program executive officer for the problem-plagued F-35 said Thursday he has “great confidence” the multi-service fighter can deliver the oft-promised stealth and the sophisticated package of sensors. Vice Adm. David Venlet said he has “measured data” to show that. In a late afternoon address to an audience of defense and financial industry representatives, Venlet…
By Otto Kreisher
WASHINGTON: The aerospace industry and its largest union have started a new campaign to pressure Congress and the administration to prevent sequester, which they say could result in the loss of more than one million jobs from aerospace, defense and related activities. The new drive, kicked off with a news conference today (3/7), is called…
By Otto Kreisher
WASHINGTON: The Navy has begun a critical phase in its quest for a revolutionary weapon that could reach out and touch someone with massive force at more than 100 miles, without using an ounce of gun powder or rocket fuel. The Navy has fired six test shots with the first of two industry prototypes of…
By Otto Kreisher
ABOARD THE USS WASP: Putting the best face on a potentially grim future, the Navy’s top officer is telling his sailors that the active fleet will be about the same size in five years as it is now, despite recently announced plans to retire a bunch of ships early and to not build as many…
By Otto Kreisher
The two congressional defense policy committees may not have a clear path to avoid a punishing sequestration of defense funds — that big fat $600 billion cut triggered by the failure of the Supercommittee — but they do have a plan to get their work done early so they can do what really counts on…
By Otto Kreisher
WASHINGTON: Sen. Susan Collins blasted the “highly politicized” nature of Congress, questioning whether lawmakers can resolve any of the major problems facing it, including the threat of sequestration. Collins, one of the few surviving Republican moderates on the Hill, noted the positive results for the Navy in the fiscal 2012 defense appropriations during her speech…
By Otto Kreisher
UPDATED WASHINGTON: A Navy plan to base four Aegis warships in Spain could end up being sunk by congressional lawmakers looking to protect their own political interests. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the ship relocation plan in October at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The decision “should send a very strong signal that the United States…
By Otto Kreisher
WASHINGTON: The nation’s top military officer today insisted he did not oppose the expensive and controversial F-35, on which three of the four services he leads depend on for their future air capabilities. Asked about his recent congressional testimony that the nation “might not be able to afford” the three F-35 variants, Army Gen. Martin…
By Otto Kreisher
Washington: A veteran Republican defense official played the skunk at the garden party today, raising serious technical and financial doubts about the Obama administration’s approach to ballistic missile defense for Europe after the Missile Defense Agency director and a top State Department official praised the program. Dov Zakheim, a senior Defense Department official under two…
By Otto Kreisher
With the Tea Party ready to pounce and the Speaker of the House adamantly against raising taxes, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon apparently has seen the light and has decided he will not raise taxes to forestall further defense budget cuts. Speaking at a defense budget forum in a Capitol Hill restaurant today,…
By Otto Kreisher
As the war in Afghanistan passed its tenth anniversary this week, many news outlets repeated the frequently repeated claim that the conflict there has replaced Vietnam as America’s longest war. That is a questionable assertion. Even if you count only from the first “official” U.S. combat operations in Vietnam — the Gulf of Tonkin air…
By Otto Kreisher
The Marine Corps is taking the use of unmanned air systems to the next level, deploying pilotless cargo helicopters to Afghanistan to test their ability to supply troops in the field without trucks facing the risk of deadly IEDs. The six-month demonstration of the feasibility of a cargo UAS in a combat environment will involve…
By Otto Kreisher
The Obama administration late Thursday announced yet another attempt to settle the prolonged and increasingly bitter clash with Japan over the controversial and expensive plan to relocate thousands of U.S. Marines off the crowded island of Okinawa. Senior defense and State Department officials said the revised agreement would strengthen the critical alliance between the U.S.…
By Otto KreisherWASHINGTON: I walked past a sandy desert, a littoral waterway and a steamy jungle and watched a human-like robot extinguish a shipboard fire, all in about an hour and without leaving town. It was possible because the Navy has opened a new Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR) on the grounds of the Naval Research…
By Otto KreisherThe program executive officer for the problem-plagued F-35 said Thursday he has “great confidence” the multi-service fighter can deliver the oft-promised stealth and the sophisticated package of sensors. Vice Adm. David Venlet said he has “measured data” to show that. In a late afternoon address to an audience of defense and financial industry representatives, Venlet…
By Otto KreisherWASHINGTON: The aerospace industry and its largest union have started a new campaign to pressure Congress and the administration to prevent sequester, which they say could result in the loss of more than one million jobs from aerospace, defense and related activities. The new drive, kicked off with a news conference today (3/7), is called…
By Otto KreisherWASHINGTON: The Navy has begun a critical phase in its quest for a revolutionary weapon that could reach out and touch someone with massive force at more than 100 miles, without using an ounce of gun powder or rocket fuel. The Navy has fired six test shots with the first of two industry prototypes of…
By Otto KreisherABOARD THE USS WASP: Putting the best face on a potentially grim future, the Navy’s top officer is telling his sailors that the active fleet will be about the same size in five years as it is now, despite recently announced plans to retire a bunch of ships early and to not build as many…
By Otto KreisherThe two congressional defense policy committees may not have a clear path to avoid a punishing sequestration of defense funds — that big fat $600 billion cut triggered by the failure of the Supercommittee — but they do have a plan to get their work done early so they can do what really counts on…
By Otto KreisherWASHINGTON: Sen. Susan Collins blasted the “highly politicized” nature of Congress, questioning whether lawmakers can resolve any of the major problems facing it, including the threat of sequestration. Collins, one of the few surviving Republican moderates on the Hill, noted the positive results for the Navy in the fiscal 2012 defense appropriations during her speech…
By Otto KreisherUPDATED WASHINGTON: A Navy plan to base four Aegis warships in Spain could end up being sunk by congressional lawmakers looking to protect their own political interests. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the ship relocation plan in October at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The decision “should send a very strong signal that the United States…
By Otto KreisherWASHINGTON: The nation’s top military officer today insisted he did not oppose the expensive and controversial F-35, on which three of the four services he leads depend on for their future air capabilities. Asked about his recent congressional testimony that the nation “might not be able to afford” the three F-35 variants, Army Gen. Martin…
By Otto KreisherWashington: A veteran Republican defense official played the skunk at the garden party today, raising serious technical and financial doubts about the Obama administration’s approach to ballistic missile defense for Europe after the Missile Defense Agency director and a top State Department official praised the program. Dov Zakheim, a senior Defense Department official under two…
By Otto KreisherWith the Tea Party ready to pounce and the Speaker of the House adamantly against raising taxes, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon apparently has seen the light and has decided he will not raise taxes to forestall further defense budget cuts. Speaking at a defense budget forum in a Capitol Hill restaurant today,…
By Otto KreisherAs the war in Afghanistan passed its tenth anniversary this week, many news outlets repeated the frequently repeated claim that the conflict there has replaced Vietnam as America’s longest war. That is a questionable assertion. Even if you count only from the first “official” U.S. combat operations in Vietnam — the Gulf of Tonkin air…
By Otto KreisherThe Marine Corps is taking the use of unmanned air systems to the next level, deploying pilotless cargo helicopters to Afghanistan to test their ability to supply troops in the field without trucks facing the risk of deadly IEDs. The six-month demonstration of the feasibility of a cargo UAS in a combat environment will involve…
By Otto Kreisher
