CSBA talks #lasers @WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/KwEokm. For hoi poloi who can’t get WSJ, we talked to CSBA on this 2 weeks ago: http://bit.ly/JKmni0 SydneyFreedberg

WASHINGTON: Lasers are déclassé even in science-fiction nowadays – the guys in Avatar and Mass Effect shoot bullets – and the big Air Force and Army laser programs of the last decade were ignominiously cancelled. So I was surprised at last week’s Navy League Sea-Air-Space conference to hear “directed energy” technology mentioned by no less… Keep reading →

Since 911, the U.S. military has invested huge amounts of money in protecting troops, buying add-on armor kits for everything from the humble Humvee to the massive M1 tank. But the spread of smart weapons to Third World forces, both rogue states and guerrillas, may be outpacing the Pentagon’s ability to counter them, warns a… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Defense conferences rarely attract much notice from the American public but we saw a spark today as a demonstrator leapt onto the stage while Rep. Buck McKeon spoke in favor of a strong defense and robust funding for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. “These drones are playing God,” the slight, middle-aged woman shouted, trying to unfurl… 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 →

WASHINGTON: President Obama’s defense budget for 2013 implements the start of the $500 billion in budget cuts required by the Budget Control Act but does not address the additional $600 billion in cuts triggered by the Super Committee’s failure. The most important implication deduced from the chart above would be that the administration has begun… Keep reading →

After the year 2020 ground wars will be more intense and concentrated in the world’s crowded coastal cities. That’s the consensus from a panel of experts including current and retired Army officers and professional analysts. Over the past decade, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have adapted to the low-intensity wars in Iraq and Afghanistan… Keep reading →

Washington: After a 25-year career in the national security arena, much of it spent in Washington, defense analyst and Oklahoma native Dakota Wood is heading home. Wood, a former Marine Corps officer and now defense analyst at the prestigious Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, has joined the growing pool of GOP candidates vying to… Keep reading →

Washington: Lists can be fun and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments issued a doozie today, listing the dozen big programs killed by the Pentagon and their value at time of death. “Over the past decade at least a dozen major programs were terminated without any operational systems being fielded. The sunk cost of… Keep reading →

Washington: The head of the Navy, Adm. Gary Roughead, has offered a pretty compelling story line in the last few months, arguing that the next decade will belong to his service as the U.S. withdraws from its land wars and is forced to rely on a steady global presence deliverable only by ship. The Navy… Keep reading →