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![Nuclear Cheating Scandal Hits Navy; Not Like Air Force’s, Say Admirals](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2012/03/ohioclasssubmarinemaine01-225x150.jpg)
WASHINGTON: It looks like the scum of scandals that’s afflicted the Air Force nuclear program has spread to the Navy — although top admirals took pains today to emphasize how different the two problems are. In both cases, military personnel cheated on exams to requalify so they could continue to work with nuclear materials. The…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. and Colin Clark![Will Syrian Civil War Mark End to American Militarism?](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2014/02/Obama-speaks-at-WH-on-Syrian-chemical-weapons-225x150.jpg)
This is James Kitfield’s first piece for Breaking Defense since his departure from his award-winning tenure at National Journal. As one of the best defense reporters around, Kitfield’s specialty has always been spotting the big strategic trend first and writing clearly, simply and persuasively about it. Following is a classic example of his work, which…
By James Kitfield![Top Tester Tells Navy To Test Carrier, Destroyer Defenses With Real Missiles & Explosions](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2014/01/CVN-71_test_blast_1987_2-e1391203367923-225x150.jpeg)
You’d expect the nation’s top weapons tester to be a stickler about testing. But there’s “rigorous testing” and then there’s “let’s shoot cruise missiles at you and see what happens.” It’s not that the Navy is wimpy about testing. The service conducts “full-ship shock trials” like the USS Roosevelt test pictured above, where it sets off a…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![Obama Picks Navy Admiral For NSA; Keeps CyberCom Ties](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2014/01/Adm.-Mike-Rogers-225x150.jpg)
PENTAGON: Vice Adm. Michael Rogers
By Colin ClarkMulti-Domain Operations: Global C2 and Joint Operations
![James Says ‘Systemic Problems’ Plague Air Force Nuke Missileers; ‘Climate Of Undue Fear’](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2014/01/SecAF-James-and-Lt.-Gen.-Wilson-225x150.jpg)
PENTAGON: Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James spent most of last week talking with the officers and enlisted men who control and protect America’s nuclear missiles. She told reporters today she believes the service’s nuclear missile force — hit by drugs, a cheating scandal that now embroils 92 officers, and several other recent mishaps — is…
By Colin Clark![Army Radios Get Low Marks From DOTE](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2014/01/Army-vehicle-full-of-network-computers-225x150.jpg)
From handheld radios to high-tech headquarters, the Army’s top priority is what it calls the network. That’s not one project but a whole array of programs, each complex on its own. They all are supposed to interconnect so it’s no surprise that the Pentagon’s top tester has found plenty of problems. What is surprising in…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![Uparmored Bradley Could Be Tough Enough For AMPV: Testers](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2012/03/041030-f-2034c-040-1331057796-225x150.jpg)
Massive government documents typically hide some gold nuggets of information. In today’s report from the Pentagon’s independent Director of Operational Test & Evaluation, a famously tough grader known as DOT&E, there’s one detail that is going to make defense contractor BAE Systems very happy: “Results from the third underbody blast test also demonstrate that the…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![Hill Staffer Gives Boeing ‘Benefit Of Doubt’ As DoD Tester Warns Of Year Delay To KC-46 Tests](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2011/07/kc-46illustration-225x150.jpg)
UPDATED: With Official Air Force Comment PENTAGON: It’s one of those sentences that gets a defense reporter’s heart beating a little faster. “DOT&E analysis of initial Boeing schedules with regard to aerial refueling certifications, aircraft and support equipment technical orders, and operator/maintainer training indicates that operational testing will likely slip at least 6 to 12…
By Colin Clark![Amos Says Marines To Drop High Speed ACV, For Now; Phased Approach Likely](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2011/11/usmcamphibs-225x150.jpg)
CRYSTAL CITY, Va: For years the Marines have argued they need a new amphibious combat vehicle that can cut through water at high speeds so Marines can get to the beach safely and then fight their way inland. But Marine Commandant James Amos signaled yesterday there just isn’t enough money to buy a “planing” vehicle…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Forward Observer: Technologies for 21st Century Security
![Lockheed Martin logo](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2023/06/Lockheed_Martin_logo.svg-b.png)
![The Navy’s Carrier Crunch: Even Without Budget Cuts, Deployments Will Drop](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2012/03/107137160-225x150.jpg)
WASHINGTON: The Navy’s in a carrier crunch. US commanders around the world keep asking for carriers to cover trouble spots from Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan to the Western Pacific and the South China Sea, but the Navy doesn’t have enough to go around. And they may well lose another. In recent years, amazingly, the Navy has managed to increase the number of aircraft…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.![F-35 Operational Test and Evaluation Report; Marines Say No IOC Changes](https://sites.breakingmedia.com/uploads/sites/3/2013/08/F35BUSSWasplandings1-225x150.jpg)
UPDATED: Marine Commandant Lists Top 3 Concerns; Lockheed Commits to Software Delivery In Time For Marine IOC. Here it is, for everyone to ponder, the F-35 portion of the annual report from Michael Gilmore, director of the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation office. The only sort of public annual benchmark on the success or failure…
By Colin Clark and Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has done the nation a service by writing his memoirs, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” providing useful insights into his thinking and approach, as well as giving us a unique look at the working styles of two very different presidents. The book demonstrates why and how Gates has navigated…
By Robbin LairdAfter our story yesterday on Robert Work and Shawn Brimley‘s disconcerting vision of future robotic war, we got a thoughtful response from Brimley that, with his permission, we’ve published below. The Editors. Bob and I wrote the paper because we feel strongly that there are some powerful trends affecting the relationship between technology and military…
Islamists are regrouping in Mali, but France wants to draw its forces down to 1,000 troops, so who will fill the gap? The UN, which already has 5,500 soldiers on the ground? A fragile truce holds in the Central Africa Republic, where more than one million people have been displaced by gruesome fighting between Muslims…
By Rachel Kleinfeld