Washington: Last fall, the Marine Corps had a plan for what it would look like after Afghanistan. That picture appears increasingly out of focus as the service braces itself for impending budget cuts, the commandant said today. The Marines’ will fall far below the 186,000-man total force it had initially aimed for once combat operations… Keep reading →

Washington: Last week Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. military would turn into a ‘paper tiger’ if it is hit with a $1 trillion dollar budget cut over the next decade. Today, he described in painstaking detail what exactly that would mean. In a letter sent today to Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member… Keep reading →

Washington: The Army’s strategy to close long-term readiness gaps stemming from its rush to rebuild war-torn equipment is falling woefully short of expectations, leaving service units to come up with their own solutions. The Army’s R3 initiative has been the blueprint for how the service plans to reset, retrograde and redistribute weapons, vehicles and equipment… Keep reading →

Capitol Hill: If you were to boil down a letter from Rep. Randy Forbes to Defense Secretary Leon about AirSea Battle, you might put in three words: Where’s the money? In a very polite Nov. 7 letter, Forbes asks Panetta how he planned to “make Congress part of” the process of implementing AirSea Battle. “More… Keep reading →

Pentagon: It’s official: the Pentagon will get roughly halfway to the Obama administration’s goal of cutting up to $500 billion in defense spending over the next five years. Department officials will finalize details of the $260 billion in cuts “in the coming weeks,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today. Those will be part of the… Keep reading →

Dear Readers, Your informed views are one of the key tools you and we have in driving the debate about what America’s military should look like, what our strategy should be and what weapons we need — and don’t need. To ensure you get the best shot at offering your views and protecting your identity… Keep reading →

UPDATED WITH PENTAGON RESPONSE Capitol Hill: Faced with a torrent of counterfeit parts that pose a serious risk to the lives of American servicemen and to the performance of sophisticated weapons, Sen. Carl Levin pledged today to push for new laws and policies to help curb the problem. Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services… Keep reading →

National Defense University: We’re going to do downsizing right: That’s the essence of the pledge made today by the Pentagon’s Under Secretary for Policy, Michèle Flournoy. It won’t be an easy one to keep. Flournoy talked to reporters here after she spoke to an NDU conference on “grand strategy. While the military’s top civilian strategist… Keep reading →

Washington: Time has officially run out on the Army’s Joint Tactical Radio System. The Army will release its proposals request for a new handheld network radio to industry next month, the service’s top uniformed acquisition official Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips said. Army and Pentagon officials decided to nix the Boeing-built JTRS Ground Mobile Radio earlier… Keep reading →

UPDATED Washington: The Army has pushed its iconic Humvee combat truck as far as it can go and needs to press ahead with the Joint Tactical Light Vehicle. The Army cannot load any more armor, communications equipment or other next-generation gear onto the Humvee, according to Lt. Gen Robert Lennox, chief of the Army office… Keep reading →