New Romney ‘Panders To Center’ On National Security; Which ‘Opportunist’ Will You Support?
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Mitt Romney’s “major” foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) last Monday appears to have thrown the American national security pundit class into confusion. Some, both from the right and the left, interpret the speech as proof, yet again, of Romney’s neo-conservatism-as reflected by the character of the vast majority of his own… Keep reading →
Obama’s Cuts To Commercial Space Imagery A ‘Hegemonic’ Mistake
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At last year’s Geoint conference, Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper made it clear that a significant amount of the savings needed by the intelligence community over the next five years would come from cutting the budget to buy commercial space imagery. Despite opposition within the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and quiet panic on the… Keep reading →
Obama Pacific Pivot Turns On Alaska
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This is the third in a series of commentaries defense consultant and author Robbin Laird, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, is penning about how the U.S. can and should shape its forces to perform the Asia strategy pivot. As a key part of that, he’ll be looking closely at what he… Keep reading →
Space Policy Needs A Reset Too
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OSD recently appointed a new acting deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for space policy, and, assuming he keeps the job beyond January, he (or his replacement) might consider shifting his attention to some of the very difficult challenges facing space programs in the Defense Department. First among those would be efforts to build military space… Keep reading →
US Intelligence Must Boost S&T Sources, Analysis As China Rises
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The folks at the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) offer a fascinating look at the rich harvest of science and technology China gets from us when they host conferences. You can be sure the Chinese weapons of tomorrow arise, at least in part, from today’s scientific papers. And they raise… Keep reading →
Tribute To Camp Bastion Fallen; Taliban Targeted Harriers, Their ‘Biggest Threat’
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It was a warm early fall evening at Dover as a C-17 Globemaster landed, carrying four American sons home. Two Army and two Marines, united in death, having given everything they had to support and defend our Constitution. All four were lost in Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan. The “dignified transfer” from the aircraft to the… Keep reading →
AirSea Office Must Battle Through, Or Fail: Rep. J. Randy Forbes
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CAPITOL HILL: It has now been over a year since the Air Force and Navy signed a memorandum of understanding for implementing the AirSea Battle (ASB) limited operational concept. Six months ago I wrote that this effort – one that I strongly support – will be critical to maintaining our security commitments in the Asia-Pacific… Keep reading →
Iran Attack Could Be Game-Changer For Defense Stocks
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In the latest evidence that bad news for everyone else can often be good news for military contractors, defense investors are perking up as rumors spread that Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear complex in the Autumn. Any new Middle East war would give a boost to the stocks of military suppliers, while also making equities… Keep reading →
Top Three National Security Issues For Our Next President: Attention Convention Attendees
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Breaking Defense commissioned this article from the CEO of the Truman National Security Project, Rachel Kleinfeld, to help prod both the GOP and Democrats into some vigorous and open discussion about national security issues. You may hate the ideas expressed here or love them, but we think you’ll react to them — which is the… Keep reading →
The Osprey After Five Years: Leading A ‘Tsunami Of Change’
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This September, the controversial Osprey will reach the five-year mark in its operational deployment history. In September 2007, the Osprey was deployed for the first time to Iraq. The plane has not only done well, but in five short years has demonstrated its capability to have not only a significant impact on combat but to… Keep reading →