Defense
How A Traumatic Tanker Competition Will Shape The Air Force’s Selection Of Its Next Bomber (From Forbes)
Sometime later this year, the U.S. Air Force will announce which of two industry teams headed by Boeing and Northrop Grumman has been selected to build its next bomber. If you want to understand how it will go about making that decision, don’t look at ...
Crisis In Yemen Underscores Value Of ARG/MEU
If Yemen is an example of a successful U.S. counter-terrorism operation, as President Obama once claimed, what would failure look like? Not only is this country the quintessential failed state, it is the home base of one of the worst terrorist organiza ...
V-22 Osprey: Navy Looks Poised To Hand Textron and Boeing A Big Victory (From Forbes)
The respected web-site BreakingDefense.com reported on January 13 that the Navy has selected the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor as its future airframe for delivering time-sensitive cargo and personnel to aircraft carriers, beating out a modernized version of t ...
Intensifying Cyber Attacks Just The Beginning
Cyber attacks on Western targets are coming faster and having more serious effects. We have gone in a period of months from massive data thefts at Home Depot and Target to the assault on Sony pictures to, most recently, the defacing of U.S. Central Com ...
A Doomsday Plane Reminder: Nuclear Weapons Haven’t Gone Away (From Forbes)
Insidedefense.com reports this week that the Pentagon is seeking congressional approval for communications upgrades on the Air Force's fleet of four E-4B flying command posts -- widely known as "doomsday planes." These are the airborne nerve centers fr ...
The Army’s Repivot To Europe
While the Obama Administration’s national security lens is firmly fixed on Asia and, to a lesser extent, the Middle East, the security situation in Europe grows increasingly dire. Russia continues to attempt to destabilize large swathes of Eastern Euro ...
Bill Fallon RIP
The defense community, conservative movement, and nation lost a good friend over the holidays. Willard "Bill" Fallon was a great man; an Army helicopter pilot and intelligence officer, successful Capitol Hill aide and corporate strategist. Bill grew up ...
Army Nearing Decision On Who Will Protect Helicopters Against Heat-Seeking Missiles (From Forbes)
The biggest threat to U.S. military helicopters flying in combat zones today is heat-seeking missiles. The missiles have proliferated worldwide to a point where U.S. warfighters must assume enemies will have them, and newer versions are able to distin ...
I Too Am Charlie Hebdo
Every think tank blog or communique today ought to begin with these words. We who represent the essence of free speech need to mourn, honor and stand with our fallen comrades. The same should be the response by all media outlets. Each of them needs to ...
Five Reasons Defense Lobbyists Are Facing Harder Times On Capitol Hill (From Forbes)
It's turning out to be a tough decade for defense lobbyists. Military spending peaked just as the decade was beginning. Then a resurgent GOP forced passage of the Budget Control Act capping discretionary spending (including defense) through 2021, and ...