No Battle Royal At HASC Markup Over F-35A; Dems Fold Fast
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UPDATE: GOP Buries Dems On F-35 Vote; Mudslinging Starts early CAPITOL HILL: One of the highlights of today’s House Armed Services Committee markup of the draft defense policy bill is sure to was expected to be a series of votes on whether to shift $588.5 million to the National Guard from the purchase of an additional six Lockheed… Keep reading →
Israeli $800M V-22 Deal Not Dead: Just Hovering
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Reports that Israel’s plan to buy a dozen V-22 Osprey tiltrotor troop transports is dead are — as Mark Twain said after reading his own incorrect obituary — greatly exaggerated. A U.S. Letter of Agreement offering a bargain price and early delivery of the first six of 12 Ospreys requested by Israel formally expired on Wednesday amid… Keep reading →
New F-35 Prices: A: $95M; B: $102M; C: $116M
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WASHINGTON: Lockheed and the government made it official today, signing the $4.7 billion eighth Low Rate Initial Production contract for the F-35. Here’s the full price and the official language: “Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $4,123,746,486 modification to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive firm-target contract (N00019-13-C-0008) for… Keep reading →
How To Defeat ISIL? The Governance Problem
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Howard Bloom is, for lack of a better term, an original thinker. He penned “The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History,” “Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century,” and most recently, “The Mohammed Code.” Bloom wrote this op-ed for us in response to the question… Keep reading →
Quit Kvetching & Let Israel ‘Mow The Grass’: Rep. Doug Lamborn
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Colorado Republican Doug Lamborn is a fervent advocate for US aid to Israel’s missile defense programs, especially the celebrated Iron Dome. In this op-ed, the House Armed Services Committee member argues that such technologies are just one part of a larger strategy for the survival of Israel: living with perennial threats by regularly cutting them back — often… Keep reading →
DoD Says F-35 Costs Drop But Hill Aide Predicts Rise; PEO Slams Pratt & Whitney
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UPDATED: Adds Pratt & Whitney Responses To Bogdan; Adds Lockheed Statement Correction (April 18 at 10:55 am) CRYSTAL CITY: Pratt & Whitney got a public drubbing from the sharp-tongued head of the F-35 fighter program, Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, when the Pentagon released a new cost estimate for the military’s biggest weapons program. “Pratt’s not meeting their… Keep reading →
V-22 Update: Readiness Up 25%; Flight Hour Costs Down 20% Since 2009
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SEA-AIR-SPACE: At least one important operating unit of the V-22 is sustaining impressive readiness rates “in the high 80s,” according to Col. Dan Robinson, the new program manager. But Robinson, asked by me and some of my colleagues, also said he didn’t have fleet-wide numbers and offered some unconvincing chatter about different units having different… Keep reading →
Israelis Want $348M Missile Defense Aid Above US Budget: Rep. Lamborn
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What’s $348 million between friends? That’s how much Israel would like Congress to add to the president’s 2015 budget request for aid to assorted Israeli missile defense programs, according to documents provided to Breaking Defense by Rep. Doug Lamborn, co-chairman of both the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus and the Missile Defense Caucus. “I have communicated… Keep reading →
Lamborn Lambasts Obama For Cutting Missile Defense $ For Israel; DoD Says They Checked With Israelis
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UPDATED: Pentagon Spokesman Responds, Lamborn Fires back WASHINGTON: Rep. Doug Lamborn is determined to overturn an almost $200 million cut to US aid for Israeli missile defense systems. As a co-chairman of both the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus and the Missile Defense Caucus, as well as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Lamborn is… Keep reading →
Iran Nuke Agreement ‘Very Hard’ To Reach: US Official
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GENEVA: Nuclear talks between Iran and a US-led grouping of six world powers are “hard … very hard,” a senior US administration official said here Wednesday as the two sides resumed attempts to strike a deal in the crisis over whether the Islamic Republic seeks nuclear weapons. The official said an agreement is still possible… Keep reading →