Washington: Norway is threatening to delay its buy of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters if DoD decides not to support a new missile system built by one of the country’s top defense firms. Norwegian defense giant Kongsberg is pressuring the Pentagon to integrate its Joint Strike Missile for use on the F-35, indicating that Norway is… Keep reading →

Robbin Laird, international defense consultant, has been in Paris interviewing French military officials about lessons learned in Libya. This is the first of two pieces he’ll do for Breaking Defense on what he’s learned. The Editor. A main point underscored by the French military was the impact of the political process on military planning. The… Keep reading →

London: French air forces flying strike missions in Libya against Gaddafi’s loyalists are not using detailed imagery and intelligence provided by US airborne surveillance aircraft, according to statements made today by French pilots involved in those sorties. Since the first day of NATO air strikes in Libya, French combat air crews have been struggling to… Keep reading →

National Harbor: Strong, sustained cooperation for future military investments is the only way NATO will survive the massive budget cuts being pushed through by many of its partner nations, a top alliance official said today. Cooperation between NATO nations on building and maintaining its arsenal is critical “because there is no other choice”, Gen Stephane… Keep reading →

Washington: A bipartisan band of six senators — five of them members of the Senate Armed Services Committee — are questioning the Pentagon’s politically explosive $1 trillion cost estimate in an Aug. 1 letter to Ash Carter, the presumptive deputy secretary of defense. The was made on the last page of the Pentagon latest Selected… Keep reading →

Sometimes — not very often, to be sure — someone in government feels so strongly that things are headed in the wrong direction that they feel compelled to break ranks and tell the American people. We have such a case here. Our author, who agreed to be identified only as ‘Anonymous in Government’, knows a… Keep reading →

Washington: Boeing, trying to press its case and boost F-18 sales, said today that F-35 partner nations are searching for a plan B for the next-generation fighter, but are waiting until program’s total costs top out before acting. The nine F-35 countries are watching closely to see if costs will continue to grow past the… 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 →

Three senators used the New York Times op-ed page today to call for complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan two years earlier than the Obama administration plans call for. “We commend the president for sticking to the July date he had outlined for beginning the withdrawal. However, his plan would not remove all regular… Keep reading →

As America’s Space Shuttle program comes to an end, commentators often link that event to the view that the United States is abrogating leadership in space to the Chinese. The Shuttle, however, is one part of a much larger US space program, and replacing it will be part of a new US approach to space,… Keep reading →