Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. has written for Breaking Defense since 2011 and served as deputy editor for the site's first decade, covering technology, strategy, and policy with a particular focus on the US Army. He’s now a contributing editor focused on cyber, robotics, AI, and other critical technologies and policies that will shape the future of warfare. Sydney began covering defense at National Journal magazine in 1997 and holds degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, and Georgetown.
What's the one technology the Marine Corps Commandant wants more than any other for his riflemen? It wasn't an amphibious vehicle, more JLTVs, a new rifle or friggin' lasers. It is "a smart way to recharge batteries," Gen. Robert Neller told reporters.
Legislators will probably loosen some rules on federal spending to help the Pentagon cope with Congress's failure to pass funding bills until six months into the fiscal year. Budget dysfunction has gotten so bad it's forcing even the famously strict appropriations committees to loosen the reins after years of resistance.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
The Army is studying 30 cities as possible sites for the Futures Command it's standing up this summer -- but the winning city may hardly notice.
WASHINGTON: This city’s fixation on how much stuff the Pentagon should buy is distracting us from the “core ideological struggle” against corrupt dictatorships, said the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Numerical targets like a 355-ship Navy — now enshrined in law — or a 500,000 active soldier Army are not only unaffordable […]
CRYSTAL CITY: This is the year Sikorsky catches up on the Future Vertical Lift program, company executives told reporters Monday. Yes, last year arch-rival Bell Helicopter was first to fly its entry in the Joint Multi-Role flight demonstration, the official lead-in to FVL. But this year Sikorsky will fly not one but three different aircraft […]
No, the Trophy anti-missile system now going on US tanks won't accidentally shred friendly troops when it goes off, the manufacturer told me this morning. And, the expert from Rafael Ltd. explained, Trophy will calculate where the enemy fired at you from so you can shred _them_.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
WASHINGTON: By 2020, for the first time, the US Navy will put a lethal laser on a warship. “This is a very big deal,” said Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments, a longtime advocate of lasers. “It is clear evidence of the progress that has been made over the last several years […]
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon will ramp up research on hypersonic weapons with a stunning 136 percent increase in the 2019 budget request. Here’s the breakdown of the $257 million: DARPA wanted more money, director Steven Walker said bluntly, particularly to build up an R&D infrastructure currently half the size of China’s. But, he said, this budget […]
ASSOCIATION OF THE US ARMY: After 30 years of trying, the head of Strategic Command believes the time and technology are finally ripe for satellites to track both ballistic missiles and emerging threats such as hypersonics. “I’ll talk about it with Congress over the next couple of weeks,” Gen. John Hyten told reporters here at […]
WASHINGTON: Under relentless grilling from Democratic senators, the four-star officer who heads both Cyber Command and the NSA said the US government is “not doing enough” to prevent Russia from meddling in the 2018 elections. Could the US keep the Russians from interfering again? asked Sen. Claire McCaskill. “Yes,” Adm. Michael Rogers said at once. […]
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
UPDATED with Harrison & Hunter analysis WASHINGTON: To prevent a repeat of last year’s lethal accidents, Senate authorizers Roger Wicker and John McCain want to give the Navy unprecedented flexibility to retain experienced officers and spend readiness funds. But the provision to let the Navy spend Operations & Maintenance money as late as in the fiscal […]
HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Just calm down and read the document. That, in essence, is the administration’s response to critics who call its new nuclear strategy irresponsible and dangerous. In fact, deputy undersecretary for policy David Trachtenberg said over and over here this morning, the Nuclear Posture Review is fundamentally conservative (with a small “c”). The 2018 […]
PENTAGON: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a former Marine Corps rifle platoon leader, wants better technology and training to keep frontline foot troops alive. He sent a Feb. 8 memo (below) to the Joint Chiefs, service chiefs, combatant commanders, and other top officials to create a Close Combat Lethality Task Force, applying the kind of top-level […]
UPDATED: Adds SecArmy Esper Roundtable PENTAGON: The figures aren’t final, but the Army hopes to get about $6.8 billion in additional funding for fiscal year 2018 thanks to the recently concluded budget deal, Army Secretary Mark Esper said this morning. The service’s new plan would start delivering a Next Generation Squad Weapon to the infantry […]