CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The Air Force threw out two big numbers this week, but one of Washington’s leading budget analysts doesn’t think either of them is credible. One is the service’s unsolicited estimate that President Trump’s plan to create an independent Space Force – largely carved out of the Air Force – […]
Most NATO nations don’t pay much. Most nations CAN'T pay much. Most spend on the wrong things. But most of them are moving in the right direction.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Some Marine Corps units, but not all, will get extra training in large-scale combat as the Pentagon refocuses from counterinsurgency to great power conflict. While every Marine would have a role in a major war with Russia or China — the service isn’t big enough to leave anybody on […]
The Marines want new missiles for multiple missions: attacking enemy aircraft, ships at sea, and ground targets. But getting them on a tight budget will require working closely with the Army and Navy.
By most metrics the war in Afghanistan is going badly.
Looking to spend billions more on its top modernization programs, the Army is changing things up by spending those dollars in places that might come as a bit of a surprise.
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
Pentagon planners aren't only worried about North Korean ICBMs, but Chinese hypersonics and medium-range missiles. That means, according to analysts, that an array of distributed systems are needed to meet a wide range of potential threats.
WASHINGTON: The Afghan Air Force is about to get a powerful new weapon in what is shaping up to be a bloody year in the 17-year-old war against the Taliban. On Friday, the U.S. Air Force announced an $86 million deal with an American defense contractor Orbital ATK to supply single-engine, turboprop AC-208 airplanes to […]
“We’ve started getting together for breakfast every week or two,” said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, “just the three of us. It’s absolutely terrifying the staffs.”
Mark Cancian, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, knows budgets. He used to help build the defense budget at the Office of Management and Budget, the largely unheralded center of federal fiscal power. So when he picks apart the budget deal Congress recently approved (or any other one) you should pay attention. He’s doing […]
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 […]
"The United States has been fighting weak and isolated regional adversaries for the last 25 years, and a result we have a very inflated view of how good we are," warned the study's lead author, Mark Cancian of CSIS.
Faced with erratic funding from Congress, the Navy has pursued cost-efficiency so rigorously that it has cut corners and compromised peacetime safety and, very possibly, wartime performance. Crews are shorthanded and spare parts stockpiles are low.
WASHINGTON: After Defense Secretary Jim Mattis took the extraordinary step today of appearing at the White House to praise the just-announced Senate budget deal, the first thought that came to mind was — can this pass the House? Mattis was asked if he knew whether the House Republican leadership was enthusiastic about Senate deal. He […]