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![70-Year-Old M113s: The Army’s Long March To AMPV](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/03/Screen-Shot-2015-03-31-at-4.37.20-PM-225x150.png)
HUNTSVILLE, ALA: The lethally under-armored M113 “battle taxi” will celebrate its seventieth birthday before the Army replaces it with a new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle. Under current plans — which assume spending levels well above those allowed by the Budget Control Act (aka sequester) — AMPV production at contractor BAE Systems will max out at 180…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![Sowing The Sea With Fire: The Threat Of Sea Mines](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2013/10/USS-Ponce-at-IMCMEX-130521-N-OA702-072-225x150.jpg)
This is the second in our exclusive series on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this very real global threat. Only 4.7 percent of the US Navy’s 275 warships are dedicated to mine warfare. Those small numbers face Iran’s several thousand naval mines, North Korea’s 50,000, China 100,000 or…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![McCain Launches Goldwater-Nichols Review; How Far Will He Go?](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/03/Sen.-John-McCain-and-Sen.-Jack-Reed-SASC-hearing-225x150.jpg)
UPDATED: With Thornberry Comment Supporting Reform WASHINGTON: Sen. John McCain plans a long-term review of the law underpinning the modern American military, the Goldwater-Nichols legislation that created the current chain of command from president to defense secretary to combatant commanders. “The Committee will be conducting a preliminary examination of the structure, roles, and missions of civilian…
By Colin ClarkMulti-Domain Operations: Global C2 and Joint Operations
![‘I Am Not A Salesman For F-35:’ Lt. Gen. Bogdan, F-35 PEO; 2B Software Delayed](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/03/Lt.-Gen.-Peter-Bogdan-JSF-F-35-225x150.jpg)
Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, head of the F-35 program, shut up a room full of reporters yesterday. That’s right. None of us said a word for about 15 minutes yesterday while Bogdan told us he wanted to see us get our facts right about the F-35 program. But what really got our attention was his…
By Colin Clark![A New Approach for U.S. Missile Defense?](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/03/THAAD-225x150.jpg)
Phil Coyle knows missile defense. He was director of Operational Test and Evaluation from 1994 through January 2001, during the darkest days of THAAD and when missile defense was a religious issue for both Republicans and Democrats. Thank goodness we had Coyle around to actually bring facts to the roiling debate then. Does Coyle think…
By Philip Coyle![McCain To Carter: Make UCLASS A Long-Range Strike Drone](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2013/05/Breaking-Defense-Navy-225x150.jpg)
WASHINGTON: Former Navy pilot Sen. John McCain wants the Navy to build its first carrier-based drone with the ability to carry two tons of weapons in a stealthy platform able to fly into harm’s way and not primarily as a reconnaissance aircraft. And McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Serves Committee, went straight to Defense…
By Colin Clark![AFSOC Rebuilds Air Breathing Fleet Under New CO, Lt. Gen. Heithold](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/03/Lt.-Gen.-Bradley-Heithold-AFSOC-Air-Force-Special-Operations-Command-225x150.jpg)
Still in his first year as leader of Air Force Special Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold has lots of plans, but they no longer include replacing AFSOC’s U-28A manned surveillance aircraft with MC-12W Liberty spy planes. “There was discussion about moving to the Liberty birds,” Heithold told an audience at the Air Force Association…
By Richard WhittleForward Observer: Technologies for 21st Century Security
![Lockheed Martin logo](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2023/06/Lockheed_Martin_logo.svg-b.png)
![Minefields At Sea: From The Tsars To Putin](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2013/10/Navy-practice-mine-031213-N-5319A-010-225x150.jpg)
This is the first of three stories on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this very real global threat. Since World War II, mines have sunk or crippled 15 US Navy ships, more than all other weapons put together. Like roadside bombs on land,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![Cut Red Tape: HASC Chair Thornberry Rolls Out 1st Major Acquisition Changes](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/01/Rep.-Mac-Thornberry-HASC-chair-225x150.jpg)
UPDATED: Here Is Bill That Thornberry Introduced On March 25 CAPITOL HILL: After over a year of preparation, House Armed Services chairman Mac Thornberry will announce Monday a plan to fix Pentagon procurement. In intentional contrast to past efforts at sweeping acquisition reforms, Monday’s child will be a relatively modest “increment one,” a committee aide…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![Navy Forges Ahead With New Surface Ship Electronic Warfare: SEWIP](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/03/SLQ-32_Radar_DDG-70_Hopper_2002-10-02-225x150.jpg)
NAVY YARD: American warships are about to get much harder to kill. Armed with new electronic warfare systems, the US Navy “is taking back the spectrum,” Capt. Doug Small says. The great advantage of American warships has long been their ability to absorb punishment and to keep fighting. In the modern era, however, the best defense is electronic:…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![Jet Cars, Radars, & The Ford-Class Carrier](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2014/01/ford_float17nov13-1-225x150.jpg)
NAVY YARD: At almost $13 billion, the cutting-edge aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford (CVN-78) has become a byword for military overruns. With the Ford‘s cost now stable and the costs of the second ship, Kennedy, coming down, however, the Navy seems convinced it’s got the money problem under control. Now they can talk about the…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![US Should ‘Slow’ Or ‘Stop’ China’s Island Building: SASC, Foreign Relations Leaders](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2015/02/Chinese-artificial-island-landing-strip-225x150.jpg)
WASHINGTON: In a strikingly vigorous and bipartisan letter 03-19-15_Joint letter to Kerry and Carter to President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Ash Carter, the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees says China actions violate regional agreements and pose a threat to both US, allied and broad international interests. The letter…
By Colin Clark
A colleague and I wrote a 10-year retrospective assessment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2011, calling the organization a “colossal, inefficient boondoogle.” Amazingly, that didn’t land us on the no-fly list, probably because — even then — we weren’t the first, last or only critics of DHS. The actions and events that provided fodder for…
By Joan Johnson-Freese