WASHINGTON: War is hell, but without the right equipment, it can seem like a one-way ticket to a two-way firing range. The men and women at the Pentagon responsible for getting those weapons and that gear into the hands of American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines know this and have come up with innovative ways… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: While the American war in Iraq may be winding down, things inside the Pentagon are heating up as the department looks to address the increased flow of Iranian weapons finding their way into the hands of anti-U.S. forces. The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer Ashton Carter said today that his office is working a number… Keep reading →

If you wanted a clear indicator of just where the Pentagon wants to be in buying weapons for the future, you would do well to pay attention to what Ash Carter, head of Pentagon acquisition, said today about a projected cost overrun faced by the Boeing tanker program. “It’s not our problem because it’s a… Keep reading →

So how many aircraft does it take to move the world’s largest military force? Not as many as many as you would think, the Pentagon says. In what has at times seemed like a long-running bad joke, filled with terms like ‘floors’, ‘ceilings’ and ‘sweet spots’, the Pentagon has finally capped its strategic airlift requirement… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: With the White House and Congress searching for defense cuts, a number of big-ticket Pentagon programs have been put under the microscope. With the recent release of two separate reports by the Defense Department and Congressional Budget Office, the Missile Defense Agency’s newest ballistic missile program could suffer. The SM-3 Block IIB missile will… Keep reading →

Washington: The bad news: U.S. defense spending is likely — almost certain — to decline. The worse news — our allies spending is also likely to go down even more than it already has. The Council on Foreign Relations has just published what most western strategists and those of our Pacific allies can only regard… Keep reading →

The economic challenges faced today by the Navy related to fleet maintenance pose a striking example of the realities imposed by cuts in defense spending. Although all U.S. service branches face this challenge, the Navy is feeling it the most acutely. In short, the Navy can’t afford the fleet assets it has today, and the… Keep reading →

Washington: A little-noticed but extraordinary event took place during the Paris Air Show and it had nothing to do with the show. The Senate Armed Services Committee came within a whisker of officially killing the F-35 program. The June 21 vote in a closed committee session came on an amendment offered by Sen. John McCain… Keep reading →

Paris: Any time one American defense company buys another it can trigger government review for a host of reasons, from antitrust to security concerns. When an American company financed by a foreign entity tries to buy another American company it triggers review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). It is… Keep reading →

Washington: This year’s Paris Air Show, the year’s largest gathering of the defense and aerospace businesses, will focus on unmanned systems such as the now-famous Predator since that is one of the few growth areas for the defense sector. The show itself, which starts Monday, promises to be, simply, huge. Some statistics: more than 2,100… Keep reading →