DefenceTalkIt is generally agreed that the additional cuts to the defense budget required by sequestration will do more than just hurt the military; they will require significant force posture changes and, according to senior Department of Defense (DoD) officials, a new defense strategy. This should come as no surprise. The first round of cuts imposed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defense-budget-cuts-demand-smart-downsizing-47111/

DefenceTalkRussia will continue to build up its own defense capabilities according to foreseeable threats stated President Vladimir Putin at a meeting at the Defense Ministry, reports the Voice of Russia’s correspondent from the session. There are multiplying and expanding zones of instability on the planet: with non-stop armed conflicts in the Middle East, Central Asia, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-will-continue-building-up-its-defenses-47084/

DefenceTalkChina plans to raise its central government defense budget by 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan (114.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, according to a budget report submitted to the national legislature for review on Tuesday. The military spending will be used to improve living and working conditions of service people, make the armed forces […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-defense-budget-to-grow-10-7-in-2013-report-47066/

DefenceTalkLarge and sudden U.S. spending cuts and an unstable budget environment promise long-term damage to a critical segment of the defense industrial base, the Defense Department’s top maintenance official recently told a congressional panel. John Johns, deputy assistant secretary of defense for maintenance policy and programs, testified last week before the House Armed Services readiness […]https://www.defencetalk.com/budget-cuts-threaten-defense-industrial-base-official-says-47050/

DefenceTalkBeggars can’t be choosers. When a government accumulates trillion-dollar deficits year after year, eventually there is a day of reckoning. For the U.S. military, that day is now. Although the Pentagon continues to see a global landscape brimming with security challenges, it appears the political system has stopped listening. Or perhaps it just prefers the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defense-downturn-which-missions-will-go-away-47055/

DefenceTalkAlong with al-Qaida, nuclear proliferation and cyber threats, budget instability and the prospect of further deep spending cuts are among the nation’s most pressing national security challenges, top defense intelligence officials told a congressional panel yesterday. Michael G. Vickers, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn […]https://www.defencetalk.com/officials-cuts-unstable-budget-threaten-intelligence-mission-47004/

DefenceTalkThe Defense Department lifted its grounding of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter after analysis concluded that a cracked turbine blade in an engine on a single plane resulted from overuse in test operations, according to an official with the F-35 Joint Program Office. In an email statement, the official, Kyra Hawn, said engineers […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-lifts-f-35-grounding-following-inspections-47018/

DefenceTalkThe Defense Department continues to work toward transformation into a joint information environment with defense industry and interagency partners, a senior DOD official said here today. Robert J. Carey, the Defense Department’s principal deputy chief information officer, discussed the government’s information technology efforts to protect the nation’s cyberspace during a panel at the 12th annual […]https://www.defencetalk.com/cyber-effort-under-way-to-safeguard-infrastructure-dod-47009/

DefenceTalkJust before his private swearing-in ceremony as the 24th secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel and his wife, Lilibet, arrived at the Pentagon this morning and were greeted by Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, military assistant to the secretary of defense. Hagel said hello to waiting members of the Pentagon press corps as he […]https://www.defencetalk.com/hagel-takes-office-as-24th-secdef-46984/

DefenceTalkOn his first day at the Pentagon’s helm, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today issued a message to the men and women of the Defense Department. Here is the secretary’s message: “Earlier today I was privileged to take the oath of office to become the 24th secretary of defense. I am humbled by and grateful for […]https://www.defencetalk.com/hagel-issues-message-to-defense-department-workforce-46981/