CRYSTAL CITY: From standardizing paint schemes to buying fewer types of valves, the Navy is going all-out to save money as budgets tighten. This new emphasis on affordability goes beyond the usual mundane economies to a sea change in how the service develops new vessels and technologies, with the much-criticized Littoral Combat Ship as the… Keep reading →

[UPDATED 3:15 pm with Under Secretary Work’s comments] CRYSTAL CITY: The automatic budget cuts known as sequestration aren’t the only nightmare scenario looming in March for the Department of Defense, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said this morning. If Congress keeps on funding the federal government on the current ad hoc basis, by simply extending the… Keep reading →

CRYSTAL CITY: A senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee has given up hope that the House can agree on anything to prevent sequestration, provide defense appropriations for the remainder of the year, or raise the debt ceiling. Judging from the way all the recent fiscal crises have been resolved, the solution has been… Keep reading →

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD.: Shhhh! Don’t even whisper “Armed Aerial Scout” around Army leaders for a while. The mere phrase makes them jump in these parlous budget times. Besieged by journalists and industry executives at the Association of the US Army’s annual aviation conference (click here for complete coverage), Army officials responded to inquiries about AAS… Keep reading →

The Air Force’s top leaders warn that the “nation’s on-going budget gymnastics impose costly consequence on the Air Force and other services” and pleaded with Congress to avoid sequester, which they said would leave a “hollow force” unable to perform its mission. In a joint appearance before Pentagon reporters Friday, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley… Keep reading →

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD: Degraded Visual Environment, or DVE, is jargon for the problem helicopter pilots face when their rotors kick up blinding clouds of dust or other debris. DVE also describes the problem the entire rotorcraft industry is facing as it tries to anticipate what new aircraft the Army can actually afford in this blindingly… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A year ago, the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration looked like the nightmare scenario. Today, amidst deepening gridlock and the threat of the first federal default in US history, they’re starting to look like the lesser evil. “The debt ceiling is clearly the priority,” said the city’s leading independent budget analyst, Todd Harrison… Keep reading →

Michael Donley, Air Force Secretary, wrote this second of four op-eds on the future of the Air Force exclusively for Breaking Defense. Today’s piece grapples with just how small the Air Force’s force structure can get while the service can still accomplish its missions.We will run an op-ed early each morning through Friday. The Editor.… Keep reading →

This is the first in an unprecedented series of four opinion pieces about the future of the Air Force penned by its most senior civilian, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. In more than 15 years covering the US military, I don’t remember a senior Pentagon official penning a series like this, and we are honored… Keep reading →

[Updated Friday 12/21] CAPITOL HILL: It looks like the country’s getting a defense bill for Christmas, with provisions on everything from boosting cybersecurity to sanctioning Iran to loosening export controls on satellites. In what passes for high efficiency in Congress these days, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees completed their conference on the National… Keep reading →