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Land Warfare

Carter Visit Highlights Army’s Cybersecurity

FORT HUACHUCA, ARIZ.: On his way west for a major Pacific summit, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made sure to stop here in the Arizona desert to visit a new cybersecurity center. The nascent “fusion center,” which reached Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in the last three months, will monitor Army networks in new ways. Carter changed […]

By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Air Warfare

Another Boeing Tanker Delay; How Long, Oh Lord?

WASHINGTON: When Boeing really, truly and finally won the airborne tanker competition by underbidding what was then EADS North America (now Airbus) by at least 10 percent, the chairman of the losing company, Ralph Crosby, said he believed it important that Boeing be watched closely to make sure they delivered at that price and on […]

By Colin Clark

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Air Warfare

V-22 Refueling Contract Highlights Close Ties To F-35

When the Marine Corps developed the V-22 Osprey in the 1980s, the vision was pretty simple: fly troops ashore in amphibious assaults launched from beyond the range of anti-ship missiles. Now they’re turning the Osprey into a gas station. The Marines clearly envision the tiltrotor as a sort of flying Swiss Army knife. One clear example […]

By Richard Whittle

Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy: A New Era in Defense

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budget

An Anti-Daesh Strategy, One With A Chance Of Success

The current U.S. strategy to destroy the Islamic State (Daesh) is ineffective and is unlikely to succeed. To be successful, the new strategy must be affordable, offer the legitimate hope for an acceptable outcome, and come to resolution within a reasonable timeframe. At the strategic level, the U.S. would first reverse the existing dynamic and elevate […]

By Daniel L. Davis
Naval Warfare

Should Coasties Or Navy Build New Icebreaker?

WASHINGTON: After a decade of dithering, the White House and Congress have finally come close to agreeing that America must build a new icebreaker. One congressional subcommittee, the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, has actually come up with the $1 billion needed to build it in less than a decade. But the money wasn’t put in […]

By Colin Clark
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Congress

Welding Problems Fixed For Virginia Subs; Carter Tours Electric Boat

UPDATED with Carter statement, Electric Boat clarifications, Hill comment ELECTRIC BOAT, GROTON, CT: Shipbuilders are fixing the biggest problem on one of the Pentagon’s top priorities, the Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet. As Defense Secretary Ashton Carter toured the Groton shipyard and talked up the importance of submarines, Electric Boat officials told reporters they’re fixing faulty welds […]

By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Allies

Tiny Defense Agency Strives To Make EU Dollars Go Further

WASHINGTON: If he were a European, Sen. John McCain would have a field day critiquing how Europe’s governments buy weapons. Imagine if each of the 50 united states fielded its own military. That, to a large degree, is what happens in Europe, and the waste and duplication that result are staggering. The 28 countries of the […]

By Colin Clark

Pentagon Buzz News Video

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Air Warfare

Change How Air Force Buys Compass Call, JSTARS

The 21st century is defined by connectivity, from our iPhones to the networks that power our economy. The US military is not immune to this. Either it seizes opportunities presented by the information age, or risks precipitating problems if it retreats into anachronistic paradigms. Well into the late 20th century, combat power was largely measured […]

By Doug Birkey
Air Warfare

UK Eyes Joint Multirole, Talks With US

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.: The United Kingdom is following the U.S. Joint Multirole Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) project with “great interest” and might either get involved at some point or buy future aircraft the effort spawns, says a top British Defence Ministry rotorcraft engineer. “It’s a perfectly feasible outcome,” Bryan Finlay, the senior engineer at the […]

By Richard Whittle
Air Warfare

47 Seconds From Hell: Last-Ditch Robotic Missile Defense

WASHINGTON: In a report out this morning, CSBA scholars Bryan Clark and Mark Gunzinger argue that we don’t just need new technology and new tactics to confront the growing missile threats from China and Russia, though lasers, railguns, and hypervelocity projectiles are all useful. We need a different missile defense mindset than what we have today, one that trusts […]

By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Air Warfare

Air National Guard Units Interested In V-22 Osprey

CORRECTION: Multi-year contract three aircraft number restated WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) isn’t just wooing foreign customers for the V-22 Osprey. Deputy Program Manager Scott Hite revealed here Thursday that NAVAIR has also been talking to Air National Guard units about the tiltrotor transport as a search and rescue […]

By Richard Whittle