US clears $2.4B deal with Japan for hundreds of Tomahawk missiles, systems

US clears $2.4B deal with Japan for hundreds of Tomahawk missiles, systems
US clears $2.4B deal with Japan for hundreds of Tomahawk missiles, systems

The announced potential sale to Tokyo comes days after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met military leaders in the Indo-Pacific.

Japanese defense minister seeks deal to speed up Tomahawk buy from US

Japanese defense minister seeks deal to speed up Tomahawk buy from US
Japanese defense minister seeks deal to speed up Tomahawk buy from US

The new Japanese defense minister admitted he is a “little bit worried” about the new deal being approved by Congress, an ostensible reference to this week’s chaos on the Hill.

Senate Bill Continues Push For Navy To Block Buy Amphibs

Senate Bill Continues Push For Navy To Block Buy Amphibs
Senate Bill Continues Push For Navy To Block Buy Amphibs

The Senate’s draft defense policy bill calls for the Navy secretary to produce a business case analysis for buying amphibious ships using block buy authorities.

They’re Back: US Subs To Carry Harpoon Ship-Killer Missiles

They’re Back: US Subs To Carry Harpoon Ship-Killer Missiles
They’re Back: US Subs To Carry Harpoon Ship-Killer Missiles

The effort falls in line with Pentagon efforts to deploy more punch at longer ranges, a clear recognition of the growing ability of China and Russia to keep American and forces at a stand-off distance 

Beyond INF: An Affordable Arsenal Of Long-Range Missiles?

Beyond INF: An Affordable Arsenal Of Long-Range Missiles?
Beyond INF: An Affordable Arsenal Of Long-Range Missiles?

The US could develop more than a dozen different land-based weapons for $7 to $12 billion, thinktank CSBA estimates.

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Navy’s New Tomahawk Plan Targets Ships, Bunkers and Distance Advertisement

WASHINGTON: As the Navy continues to look for ways to reach out and touch — or preferably deter — potential adversaries at greater range, it is turning to the latest version of a decades-old weapon to do it.Advertisement

No More ‘Playing Defense’ For US Navy; Offensive Weapons Are The Play

No More ‘Playing Defense’ For US Navy; Offensive Weapons Are The Play
No More ‘Playing Defense’ For US Navy; Offensive Weapons Are The Play

“We’ve spent a lot of time over the past years playing defense,” Rear Adm. Ronald Boxall, director of surface warfare, said at the West 2019 conference here. “The best defense is a good offense, and the idea that we will go after the threat — at range — is something that we have to be able to do.”

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile
Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

It’s a major shift after decades in which submarines focused on projecting power ashore, with their only anti-ship weapons being their rarely-used torpedoes. Driving the change: increasing anxiety about China.

Beyond INF: Countering Russia, Countering China (Analysis)

Beyond INF: Countering Russia, Countering China (Analysis)
Beyond INF: Countering Russia, Countering China (Analysis)

“Long-range precision fires… would provide us the capability (to) either, for example, support the Air Force by suppressing enemy air defenses at hundreds upon hundreds of miles or support the Navy by engaging enemy surface ships at great distances as well,” said Army Secretary Mark Esper. But those examples are two distinctly different missions, each most relevant to a different theater of war.

Beyond INF: A Democratic House & A New Era Of War (Analysis)

Beyond INF: A Democratic House & A New Era Of War (Analysis)
Beyond INF: A Democratic House & A New Era Of War (Analysis)

INF proponents emphasize the risk of nuclear weapons. But, despite its name, the treaty bans a wide range of conventional weapons as well — and it’s non-nuclear, precision-guided missiles that have changed how war is actually waged.

US Puts Russia ‘On Notice’ Over Treaty Violation; NATO Agrees

US Puts Russia ‘On Notice’ Over Treaty Violation; NATO Agrees
US Puts Russia ‘On Notice’ Over Treaty Violation; NATO Agrees

US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison sent a warning to Moscow about violating the INF treaty — one that NATO allies appear prepared to back up.

Pentagon: Syria Struck From All Sides, No Missiles Intercepted

Pentagon: Syria Struck From All Sides, No Missiles Intercepted
Pentagon: Syria Struck From All Sides, No Missiles Intercepted

WASHINGTON: In one of the largest coordinated international air operations in years, over 100 American, British and French guided missiles slammed into three Syrian chemical weapons facilities early Saturday morning, launched from an armada of aircraft, submarines, and ships offshore. The Pentagon was careful Saturday to say that the assault didn’t seek to topple the…

No, Trump Nuke Strategy Doesn’t Doom Planet: DUSD Policy

No, Trump Nuke Strategy Doesn’t Doom Planet: DUSD Policy
No, Trump Nuke Strategy Doesn’t Doom Planet: DUSD Policy

HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Just calm down and read the document. That, in essence, is the administration’s response to critics who call its new nuclear strategy irresponsible and dangerous. In fact, deputy undersecretary for policy David Trachtenberg said over and over here this morning, the Nuclear Posture Review is fundamentally conservative (with a small “c”). The 2018…

Tomahawk Vs. LRASM: Raytheon Gets $119M For Anti-Ship Missile

Tomahawk Vs. LRASM: Raytheon Gets $119M For Anti-Ship Missile
Tomahawk Vs. LRASM: Raytheon Gets $119M For Anti-Ship Missile

WASHINGTON: Just three years ago, the Navy faced the Russian and Chinese fleets with just one aging, short-range anti-ship missile, the Harpoon. Today, it’s successfully test-fired at least four very different missile types and may actually need to narrow down. There’s the converted SM-6 anti-aircraft missile as the lightest, fastest option and the Kongsberg Naval…