WASHINGTON: The Navy has long touted the Littoral Combat Ship’s multimission abilities to support U.S. forces. But the next-generation warship will also be key role in supporting America’s allies across the globe. The Navy is pursuing an “aggressive fielding” strategy to get the LCS into the fleet, Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden, director of the service’s… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Congress needs to take a larger role in deciding how to get unmanned technologies into the hands of American allies while keeping them out of hands of U.S. adversaries, according to a new congressional study. The use of unmanned systems on the modern-day battlefield has increased significantly over the past decade. Unmanned aircraft have… Keep reading →

CORRECTED. We reported that Andrew Krepinevich serves on the Defense Policy Board, which provides advice to the Defense Secretary. He did, but left the board in October. PENTAGON: Sometimes politico-diplomatic announcements are just plain hard to decipher, even when you know they convey significant news. That may be the case with this nugget sent out… Keep reading →

UPDATED WASHINGTON: It’s been a good couple of weeks for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s international program. Turkish military officials this week approved a deal with JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin to buy two new A-model F-35s, according to recent news reports.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed off on the deal late yesterday. Deliveries… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: The United States will police the globe, respond to disasters and shape the international environment much as it has –though our sharpest focus will be on China and the western Pacific — but it will do all that with a significantly smaller land force than it currently has. That was the essential message offered… Keep reading →

Elections, as President Barack Obama knows, are a time of big ideas. So it would seem fitting that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will roll out a new Pentagon national defense strategy just a few days into a make-or-break election year for the White House. [Panetta is expected to formally unveil the new strategy tomorrow and… Keep reading →

The problem with military planners is that all they know is military stuff. The Pentagon may harbor some of the best strategists who ever gazed at a globe, but they seldom have much grasp of economics or demographics or cultural trends. So when a new threat arises, their natural inclination is to figure out how… Keep reading →

UPDATED WASHINGTON: The United States must not hand over sensitive missile defense technology to Russia even if it means abandoning White House plans for a European missile shield, a key GOP lawmaker says. There already have been numerous instances by Russia to obtain American military secrets even after the collapse of the Iron Curtain the… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The U.S must change its standards on what kinds of military hardware it won’t ship to its allies or risk being outgunned and out-manned in future wars, according to a top defense analyst. The Defense and State departments have ramped up cooperation with its allies in recent years through Foreign Military Sales and international… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Iran’s three new mini submarines could be Tehran’s first real step toward expanding its naval presence, but the regional powerhouse is still a long way from being a legitimate threat to the United States or its allies, according to one defense analyst. Iranian naval officials last week unveiled the new Ghadir-class mini submarines they… Keep reading →