On Army bases, nuclear energy can’t add resilience, just costs and risks
In this op-ed, Alan J. Kuperman argues that the risks of adding nuclear reactors to military bases outweigh any benefits.
Juice far from home: DIU names winners in Stable Tactical Expeditionary Electric Power program
The Defense Innovation Unit announced this week that it had awarded GM Defense and Cummins with deals to produce a modular, vehicle-transportable system that will provide energy storage and management for tactical/mobile microgrids.
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Not just selling into the kingdom, but building partnership with Saudi Arabia’s defense industry
Partnerships with outside industry are a cornerstone of the kingdom’s ambitious growth strategy.
Arctic chill: Sanctions biting Chinese-Russian energy initiatives, IC-sponsored report says
"Russia's need for economic support in the face of new sanctions combined with China's need for energy and Arctic influence make them logical partners," says the report published through the NGA's Tearline project.
Trump Rips Germany; NATO Allies Push Quality Over Quantity
Canada, Germany say they're doing plenty to provide security and strengthen the alliance without spending two percent of their GDP on defense, pushing back against Trump's criticisms.
China & Russia In The Arctic: Axis Of Ambivalence
So are Chinese ambitions racing ahead of Arctic realities? "It seems the chickens are being counted before the eggs are hatched," Sun admitted, "but the Chinese position is, 'if the eggs are going to hatch, we want to make sure we're there to collect the chickens.'"
It’s Time to Take Donald Trump Seriously
Donald Trump is going to be president, notwithstanding the handwringing in the national security policy community about whether they should agree to serve in his administration (here, here, here, here, here). Concerns are understandable given Trump’s unorthodox campaign and often extreme statements. But there is an element of hubris in these commentaries and in discussions I […]
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Meeting Zero Trust goals while maintaining information dominance
Balancing security and access to data are critical to providing users with trustworthy, reliable data for real-time decisions.
Mabus Sticks With UCLASS Approach (& Unisex Uniforms); Hill Says, Not Enough
[UPDATED with Congressional reaction] ROSLYN, VA: Ray Mabus likes robots. The Navy Secretary has declared the F-35 will be “the last manned strike fighter” the service ever buys and invested heavily in unmanned aircraft, boats, and submersibles. But Mabus has frustrated drone advocates on one major program: the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft. This morning, Mabus defended […]
From Afghan Sell-Off To Pacific Build-Up: The Strategy Of Logistics
WASHINGTON: Some 45 football fields and gear worth $5 billion. That’s how much excess inventory and storage room the Defense Logistics Agency has sold or destroyed since the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it’s not finished. DLA’s first sale of surplus equipment to local businesses in Afghanistan is scheduled for next […]
How To Fix Our Broken Nuclear Weapons Enterprise; DoD Must Take Over
Why is America’s nuclear weapons enterprise — the vast array of national laboratories and other facilities that make, build and maintain our nuclear warheads — so problem-ridden? Is it because the big weapons laboratories (Los Alamos, Livermore, and Sandia) have too much autonomy, or because they have too little? Is it because the Department of […]
Pentagon Keeps Pressing For Energy Savings
[UPDATED with Burke remarks on biofuels & other alternative energy] WASHINGTON: Budget crunch be damned, the Defense Department’s effort to get more energy-efficient is still in business, said the assistant secretary in charge. Even without the free-flowing supplemental funds and the flexibility of the “rapid equipping” initiatives that allowed for speedy spending at the height […]
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Streamcaster Nexus: Empowering the connected soldier at the tactical edge
On today’s battlefield, mobility isn’t optional - it’s mission-critical.
Will Sequester Scuttle DoD’s Energy Efficiency Efforts?
WASHINGTON: The Defense Department is the largest single consumer of energy in the United States. It consumes 1 percent of America’s massive demand, burning billions of gallons of fuel a year. Indeed, as Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a recent speech, DoD is “the largest single consumer of fossil fuels on the face of the earth.” […]
Navy Sec. Mabus: LCS Freedom Ready To Keep Peace In The Pacific
CAPITOL HILL: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus talked up the controversial Littoral Combat Ship days before departing for Asia to visit the first LCS, USS Freedom, which recently arrived in Singapore (sporting a sniffy camo paint job). Freedom has been bedeviled by cost overruns, delays, and manufacturing defects, with a new problem, seawater contamination in lubricant […]
Marines, Navy March Into ‘Fiscal Valley Forge’
PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA: As budgets tighten, the Navy and Marine Corps are looking at a host of ways to save, from installing LED lights on ships to slowing vehicle purchases to centralizing power on the Chief of Naval Operations’ staff. “We are entering a fiscal Valley Forge, a time of austerity,” said Ariane Whittemore, the […]
DoD Moves Fast on Smart Grid Energy Tech; Boeing, Siemens Join Up
The next generation of smart grid may be deployed first by the military. The Department of Defense is the largest energy consumer in the US, and is facing many of the same challenges as the rest of the country with aging infrastructure and an increasing need to use renewable fuels. As the forces become more […]