Defense
America’s Worn-Out “Arsenal of Democracy” Looks More Like an Antiques Roadshow (From National Interest) Chinese pilots observing U.S. military planes near their airspace must be surprised at what an aged collection of aircraft the world's sole remaining superpower is operating. The Air Force RC-135 and Navy EP-3 Aries II that have been intercepted in re ...
The Air Force Needs A New High-Low Mix The U.S. Air Force faces a serious force structure dilemma. On the one hand, it desperately needs to modernize its fighter, bomber and drone fleets in order to be able to maintain air dominance in the decades to come. Fourth-generation aircraft will no ...
Senate Should Approve Pentagon’s Full Request For Russian Engines The U.S. military is heavily dependent on satellites for intelligence, connectivity and navigational guidance to ensure mission success. As a result, the Pentagon needs more RD-180 Russian-made engines, used in the first stage of United Launch Alliance ...
U.S. Security Requires Flexibility On Russian Rocket Engines The Senate later this week will vote on whether to loosen proposed restrictions on the use of Russian RD-180 rocket engines. This issue is not as complicated as some "experts" make it seem. The bottom line is that if Russian engines are banned, taxpa ...
How Boeing Defense Will Overcome Its Bomber Defeat (From Forbes) Losing the Air Force's bomber competition last year was a heavy blow for Boeing's defense unit. However, the company has plenty of room to maneuver, given its $432 billion backlog of orders for jetliners. Equally important, the recently installed hea ...
Army Acquisition Is Running Out Of Time More Than Money Of all the services, the U.S. Army faces the greatest number of challenges going forward. It is still bound up in two difficult local conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan while continuing to downsize to an uncertain final end-strength. Units and equipment ...
Four Congressional Defense Committees Press Air Force To Speed Replacement Of JSTARS Radar Planes (From Forbes) It isn't often that every congressional committee involved in budgeting for the defense department tells a military service it is on the wrong track, but that is what has happened with Air Force plans to recapitalize the Joint Surveillance and Target A ...
Pentagon Weapons Spending Claims Only 1% of GDP (From Forbes) The non-stop debate on Capitol Hill about acquisition reform is fueled by two widely-held beliefs: that the Pentagon spends a huge amount of money on weapons, and that it spends a lot more than it needs to. Both beliefs are wrong. With regard to scal ...
JIDA Is Teaching DoD How To Do Rapid, Innovative Acquisition The Department of Defense badly wants to become a more agile, innovative organization. The Pentagon's leaders look with envy and a little bewilderment at the speed with which private companies, particularly those in the IT space, are able to introduce ...
The Evolution Of Jet Fighters Takes A Giant Leap With “Fifth Generation” Planes (From Forbes) The most advanced tactical aircraft in the world today are called "fifth-generation" fighters, although few people seem to know in any detail what that phrase means. Among other things it signifies advanced stealth, fused sensors, networked operations ...