When British Prime Minister David Cameron meets with President Obama this week, their discussions about Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran will dominate headlines. Also important, though less high profile, is the two allies’ preparations for NATO‘s May Chicago Summit, which will seek to bolster the alliance’s strained mission in Afghanistan and develop plans to maintain essential… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The congressional fight over the fate of Northrop Grumman’s 18 Global Hawk Block 30s is on, led so far by Rep. Norm Dicks on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. “The idea we would spend all this money to buy them and then put them in a hangar is just unacceptable,” said Dicks, ranking… Keep reading →

It’s Texan versus Tucano, take two, and the embarrassed Air Force has got to get it right this time. With all the claims, counter-claims, and rumors swirling about the controversial contract to buy the Embraer Super Tucano, which the Air Force cancelled unexpectedly on Tuesday and will likely re-compete, Breaking Defense went both to the… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Air Force leadership is hurting in the wake of another botched acquisition and the continuing Dover Air Force Base burial scandal, and you could see it in the face of Gen. Norton Schwartz this morning. The latest cock-up forced the Air Force to set aside, effective March 2, the $355 million contract for… Keep reading →

BREAKING [updated 4:15 pm with new contractor responses]: The Air Force will terminate its contract to buy a new Light Air Support plane for the fledgling Afghan air force, and it will launch an investigation into the original decision to select the Brazilian-designed Super Tucano aircraft being provided by Sierra Nevada Corporation. Rival contractor Hawker… Keep reading →

CORRECTED We deeply regret the several corrections this story has required. We spoke with NavAir to ensure it now accurately reflects events at the time. FT. LAUDERDALE: Boeing’s premiere helicopter drone is out of the mix to become the Marine Corps’ new unmanned aerial cargo hauler. Company officials are negotiating with their NAVAIR counterparts to… Keep reading →

AFGHANISTAN: International Special Operations Forces play an important but largely unheralded role in Afghanistan. American Army Rangers, Green Berets and Delta Force, along with Navy SEALs and Air Force specialists work with the best from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and a host of other allied nations to kill and capture insurgents and terrorists. They also… 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 →

WASHINGTON: The proposition can’t be proven yet, but it’s likely some Marines in Afghanistan who might have been killed or wounded since mid-December by roadside bombs, aka IEDs, are alive and well today thanks to an experimental unmanned helicopter the Corps is testing. Between Dec. 17 and Jan. 12, two remotely piloted but largely automated… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Over the next few years, Special Operations forces will gradually revert to the role that has been their bread and butter for much of their existence: training and assisting local forces around the globe to strengthen partners militaries. The global Special Operations presence will be large, some 12,000 troops around the world, according to… Keep reading →