Focus The Pentagon On Warfighting, Not Kids’ Schools And Such
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It’s time to focus the Pentagon on warfighting and get it out of the myriad auxiliary activities that distract it from its main purpose. Secretary Mattis made his position clear in his confirmation hearing: “[W]e have to stay focused on a military that is so lethal that on the battle field it will be the… Keep reading →
Thornberry Says HASC Would Oppose Year-Long CR
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CAPITOL HILL: “I do not think a year-long CR will pass the House,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry told reporters this afternoon. Full-year CRs aren’t that common, but the last few years have usually seen Congress, incapable of passing timely appropriation bills — which is one of their most basic and important jobs — instead passing a… Keep reading →
Trump Claims Admin Cuts $600M From F-35; Thank The JPO
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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump, repeating a trick he’s used with the automobile makers, claimed credit today for something he didn’t have much to do with, but that became final during his administration. Trump told White House reporters, who can’t be expected to know much about the F-35 program, that he had saved taxpayers $600 million in the… Keep reading →
Mattis Orders Air Force One, F-35 Reviews As Trump Opens Door To $60B DoD Budget Boost
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WASHINGTON: After weeks of uncertainty and mounting evidence that only larger deficits were the path to a significant boost to the US military, President Trump has signaled the fiscal spigots will be opened in the interests of a larger and more capable US military. “I think it’s significant in signaling this is a priority among the… Keep reading →
Doomsday Clock Sweeps Forward At End of Trump’s First Week
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WASHINGTON: A disruptive leader disrupts. Large and fast disruptions of the global order rarely portend happier times and that would seem to be the case as the first week of the Trump Administration comes to an end. “For the first time in the 70-year history of the Doomsday Clock, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science… Keep reading →
Lawmakers Call For Halt To DARPA Program: Robots Repairing Satellites
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WASHINGTON: Three influential House lawmakers have asked DARPA in a Jan. 25 letter to review a robotic space repair program to see if it violates the National Space Policy by competing with private-sector efforts and to put the program on hold until the review is complete. The National Space Policy requires “that the government not build or… Keep reading →
How Trump Should Handle Russian Nuclear Talks
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If the Trump administration wants to negotiate an arms control treaty with Russia, it must meet several preconditions. The Times of London reports that then President-elect Donald Trump signaled he would consider a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the Russians. He was quoted as saying, “For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and… Keep reading →
Quarantine? What Are American Options for the South China Sea?
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Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who had expressed serious reservations about Rex Tillerson, President Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of State, said Sunday afternoon they would vote for him, pretty much assuring his elevation. The most combustible part of Tillerson’s testimony was about how to handle a rising China’s actions in the South and East… Keep reading →
Dear Readers: What Should Trump Do With US Military?
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We haven’t done this much here at Breaking Defense, but when I ran DoDBuzz we used to sometimes take cogent and insightful readers comments and build them into a story. Here’s your chance to tell the new administration the smart things it could do with America’s military over the next four years. You can either… Keep reading →
Is Trump, Information Warrior, Key To Defeating Daesh (ISIL)?
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President-elect Trump has promised to destroy Daesh. If Trump wants to avoid being the third Administration in succession to sink into the morass of the Middle East, it is essential to first ask what declaring victory would look like. Part of the West’s challenge is rooted in that Daesh is a brand inside a religion and… Keep reading →