FT. LAUDERDALE: The Army’s sizable combat vehicle fleet will remain largely intact despite ongoing efforts inside the Pentagon to reshape the service into a post-Afghanistan force. While the Army may not be able to buy the amount of new vehicles or modernize the number of legacy systems it wants, the service’s overall combat vehicle strategy… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Navy’s push to become a more environmentally-friendly fighting force took a beating on Capitol Hill last week. But the tongue lashing delivered by House defense lawmakers has little chance of gaining traction on the Hill or inside the Pentagon, analysts say. House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee member Randy Forbes took Navy Secretary Ray… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The Army is in the midst of a service-wide review on how it will shift its mountain of metal from Southwest Asia to the Pacific, according to Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. Army leaders, working with combat commanders, are studying what options exist to store the Army’s stockpiles of prepositioned equipment in… Keep reading →

When the Pentagon released its budget materials and press releases last Monday, the press dutifully reported the numbers. The Pentagon’s “base” budget for 2013 is to be $525.4 billion, and with $88.5 billion for the war in Afghanistan and elsewhere added, the total comes to $613.9 billion. Indeed, if you plowed through the hundreds of… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A number of House Republicans are lining up against the Obama administration’s effort to extend reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon and Mike Turner sent a letter to the White House today, opposing a new National Security Council study exploring plans to reducing the arsenal “up to… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The new 285-ship fleet the Navy plans in its fiscal 2013 budget plan may change, pending the results of a new service-wide force structure review, the Navy’s top officer said today. The review, expected to wrap up within weeks, will outline how many hulls the Navy will need to meet the national security… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Despite recent major developments in Iran’s nuclear program, the effort has yet to cross the ‘red lines’ requiring military intervention, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today. Testifying before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee today, Panetta said intelligence shows that Tehran has yet to transition its nuclear program into a full-fledged weapons program. “That… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Air Force is holding off on filling the skies the next generation of the Reaper UAV. Instead of putting more aircraft into the air that gather more data, the service plans to focus on how to better manage the flood of raw intelligence already streaming in, says one top service officer. The Air… Keep reading →

CORRECTED THE PENTAGON: The Pentagon wants production of the Air Force’s new bomber put on the fast track, despite the program’s $500 million per-plane price tag. DoD Comptroller Bob Hale wants the bomber, known as the Long-Range Strike aircraft, to move as quickly as possible through the development and production phases. His comments came during… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The Obama administration’s defense budget raises the risks to American security to an “unacceptable” level, if you believe Sen. Joseph Lieberman and a number of Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. If you believe Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the risks are… Keep reading →