Busting The Green Door: Army SIGINT Refocuses On Russia & China

Busting The Green Door: Army SIGINT Refocuses On Russia & China
Busting The Green Door: Army SIGINT Refocuses On Russia & China

Over 17 years of fighting terrorists and insurgents, “our SIGINT forces mastered the art and science of identifying and tracking individual threats with pinpoint precision,” Lt. Gen. Berrier said. “We now face a significant challenge on a much larger scale.”

Adms. Davidson In, Harris Out At Indo-Pacific Command

Adms. Davidson In, Harris Out At Indo-Pacific Command
Adms. Davidson In, Harris Out At Indo-Pacific Command

WASHINGTON: There’s a new admiral in charge at the renamed Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Philip Davidson. Davidson, as we’ve noted, has relatively little firsthand experience with the peoples and region over which he will now command 60 percent of the US Navy fleet, along with substantial Marine, Army and Air Force assets throughout the region. Davidson, as…

Rep. Gabbard Pushes For Heftier Hawaiian Missile Defenses

Rep. Gabbard Pushes For Heftier Hawaiian Missile Defenses
Rep. Gabbard Pushes For Heftier Hawaiian Missile Defenses

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.

F-35 Ready For Missile Defense By 2025: MDA Chief

F-35 Ready For Missile Defense By 2025: MDA Chief
F-35 Ready For Missile Defense By 2025: MDA Chief

“I’d say six to seven years to essentially work out the Concept of Operations (and) develop the capabilities,” Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves told the Senate.

SecNav Spencer Seeks Repeal of Sen. Inouye Statute After Pacific Collisions

SecNav Spencer Seeks Repeal of Sen. Inouye Statute After Pacific Collisions
SecNav Spencer Seeks Repeal of Sen. Inouye Statute After Pacific Collisions

WASHINGTON: Navy Secretary Richard Spencer has asked legislators to repeal an obscure statute that he says hinders Navy readiness in the Pacific, where accidents this summer killed 17 sailors. Armed Services committee leaders seem receptive, but it’s the appropriators who’ll have to change the provision in question, which was written by their late, great chairman…

US Navy Should Boost Ties With Indo-Pacific Partners: Rep. Wittman

US Navy Should Boost Ties With Indo-Pacific Partners: Rep. Wittman
US Navy Should Boost Ties With Indo-Pacific Partners: Rep. Wittman

The Navy’s Force Structure Assessment (FSA) calls for a 355-ship fleet, ultimately growing to a force of 653 ships. However, the Navy knows that a 653-ship fleet, outfitted with the proper weapon systems, is simply financially unattainable. But the world has become more dangerous in the last eight years and a credible U.S. naval deterrence remains…

Historic Shift? Air Force General May Lead Pacific Command

Historic Shift? Air Force General May Lead Pacific Command
Historic Shift? Air Force General May Lead Pacific Command

WASHINGTON: In what would be a remarkable break in US military tradition, an Air Force general has emerged as the top candidate to lead Pacific Command. Sweeping from India to the west, north to Russia, south to Antarctica and east to the California and Mexican coasts, Pacific Command is just what it says: the military…

Senate NDAA Moves Ahead; North Korea Launches, Again

Senate NDAA Moves Ahead; North Korea Launches, Again
Senate NDAA Moves Ahead; North Korea Launches, Again

WASHINGTON: It was fitting that North Korea launched another missile over northern Japan just hours after Sen. John McCain appears to have won a substantial victory with today’s cloture vote apparently clearing the way for passage of the Senate version of the defense policy bill. Among the most interesting changes, one that was not unexpected,…

Congress, Navy Share Blame For Fatal Collisions At Sea

Congress, Navy Share Blame For Fatal Collisions At Sea
Congress, Navy Share Blame For Fatal Collisions At Sea

CAPITOL HILL: Congress’s repeated budget malpractice and the Navy’s flawed policies combined to cause the accidents that killed 17 sailors, the Navy and the GAO say. Legislative dysfunction means budget cuts, caps, and delays have chronically shortchanged training and maintenance across the fleet, forcing sailors to work 100-plus hours a week to try to catch…

From Concept To Combat: Making Multi-Domain Battle Real

From Concept To Combat: Making Multi-Domain Battle Real
From Concept To Combat: Making Multi-Domain Battle Real

WASHINGTON: The concept called Multi-Domain Battle – a single seamless offensive across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace – may seem futuristic, but the Army wants to start implementing at least parts of it right now. In wargames, doctrine, and interservice dialogue, “it’s actually becoming reality,” said Gen. David Perkins. As one of the fathers…

Army Needs $45B Of Smart Weapons: Hellfire, GMLRS, ATACMS, Patriot, THAAD

Army Needs $45B Of Smart Weapons: Hellfire, GMLRS, ATACMS, Patriot, THAAD
Army Needs $45B Of Smart Weapons: Hellfire, GMLRS, ATACMS, Patriot, THAAD

ARLINGTON: Against terrorists in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, US forces are firing smart weapons like Hellfire missiles as fast as industry can build them — or faster. Against a well-armed adversary like Russia or China, we might run out.  That’s why the military is making a major multi-year investment in precision weapons, one that the…

‘Indispensable’ Palau Deal At Risk; Will China Get Access?

‘Indispensable’ Palau Deal At Risk; Will China Get Access?
‘Indispensable’ Palau Deal At Risk; Will China Get Access?

“Palau is indispensable to our national security and funding the compact is key to our strategic presence in the region.” That’s what the Defense Department’s 2018 budget request says — but the House Armed Services Committee disagrees, defunding a $123.9 million payment that gains us access to the islands. Why is Palau indispensable? Look at…

$49M For Multi-Domain Wargames Tops PACOM Wishlist

$49M For Multi-Domain Wargames Tops PACOM Wishlist
$49M For Multi-Domain Wargames Tops PACOM Wishlist

WASHINGTON: “To counter our near-peer adversaries” — read Russia and China — US Pacific Command wants $530 million of unfunded priorities that didn’t fit in the 2018 budget request, from better bases to more torpedoes. The top item: $49 million more for “multi-domain battle exercises,” wargames testing a new Army-led concept for future warfare against…

Support IBCS, Best Missile Defense C2 We’ve Got: Former MDA Tester

Support IBCS, Best Missile Defense C2 We’ve Got: Former MDA Tester
Support IBCS, Best Missile Defense C2 We’ve Got: Former MDA Tester

America’s military has operated far too long without a truly integrated air and missile defense system and the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS) is the best answer we’ve got. Congress needs to support the Army’s budget request for IBCS and AMD funding. For its part, the Army needs to re-evaluate…