WASHINGTON: The Defense Department will create at least five defense budgets this year as a result of the Strategic Choices and Management Review, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today, and some of those alternative plans “could entail significant risk.” Carter appeared to engage in something we have begun seeing from a range of senior uniformed… Keep reading →

The bomb exploded like a dusty thunderclap directly underneath the front left tire of the U.S. Army MaxxPro truck, sending the tall, roughly 20-ton vehicle lurching at least 10 feet forward and scattering chunks of the outer hull like amputated body parts. It was March 19, 2011, in the Pakhab-e-Shana in eastern Afghanistan’s breadbasket Logar… Keep reading →

NATIONAL HARBOR: If Lockheed Martin harbored any hopes that the Pentagon might not be fully supportive of Maj. Gen. Christopher Bogdan’s critical comments about Lockheed Martin’s performance on the Joint Strike Fighter they were dashed this morning. Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter referred to Bogdan as “Chris” and told the packed Air Force Association conference… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Congress and the Obama administration should thank their lucky stars that hardly anyone watched this morning’s House Armed Services Committee hearing about sequestration. Everyone in the political arena will try to paint this one as the other’s fault. The GOP will blame the Democrats. The White House will blame the GOP. The GOP… Keep reading →

DepSecDef Carter @ #HASC says sequester wld mean cuts 4 F-35s, 1 P-8, 12 Strykers, 300 medium, heavy tactical vehicles CVN-78, LCS delays ColinClarkAol

PENTAGON: The world’s top buyer of military equipment won’t be there, but the Pentagon is sending a senior acquisition official from the Office of Secretary of Defense to the Farnborough Air Show in July. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics won’t be there. And the head of the F-35 program, the… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The F-22 will fly in operations if it’s needed while the Air Force keeps a close eye on the oxygen problem, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today. “The answer is, yes. The aircraft will be used operationally if need be,” Carter said in response to a question during a morning appearance at the… 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 →

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon and White House are trying to have it both ways in the new national security strategy unveiled last week, and the department is looking to the National Guard and Reserve to help make that happen. The Pentagon nixed several missions from the U.S. military’s portfolio as part of the new strategy. The… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is pushing hard to get weapons technologies into the hands of U.S. allies and a new advisory panel will help the department do just that. The new Technology Security and Foreign Disclosure Office created by Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter will help “ensure DoD-wide planning for building partner capacity [by] taking into… Keep reading →