WASHINGTON: As the Pentagon continues to build up its AirSea Battle strategy, the Marine Corps is working hard to make sure they are not left out of that plan. The amphibious capabilities the Marines bring “can’t be left out” of the ongoing AirSea battle debate, Lt. Gen Richard Mills, commander of Marine Corps Combat Development… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: As the Navy prepares to push further into the Western Pacific, service leaders are doing all they can to prepare their warships for potential cyberattacks, the head of the Navy’s surface warfare fleet said today. Cyberwarfare remains the preeminent threat to U.S. naval forces around the world, Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, commander of naval… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The complexities of the United States diplomatic and military relationships with the People’s Republic of China were on full view today as the U.S. Navy’s leader said he does not need a bigger force to manage our presence in the western Pacific. Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, told several hundred people that… Keep reading →

The problem with military planners is that all they know is military stuff. The Pentagon may harbor some of the best strategists who ever gazed at a globe, but they seldom have much grasp of economics or demographics or cultural trends. So when a new threat arises, their natural inclination is to figure out how… Keep reading →

At a meeting in Beijing in December, Chinese president Hu Jintao had a powerful message for officials from the People’s Liberation Army Navy. “Prepare for war,” Hu said, using a Mandarin term — junshi douzheng — that means “conflict in general.” Amplified and misrepresented by the foreign media, Hu’s words echoed across Asia and the… Keep reading →

Robbin Laird, a member of the AOL Board of Contributors and vocal F-35 proponent, outlines why Japan’s decision to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter will redefine the U.S. and its allies fly and fight in the Pacific. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the cornerstone of Japanese defense. The Japanese know something about technology.… Keep reading →

Japan, one of America’s staunchest allies, is expected to announce late next week that it will buy an initial squadron of Joint Strike Fighters, the beginning of what should be a purchase of perhaps 100 aircraft. The initial order’s price tag is pegged at something like $8 billion. Apparently, a senior Japanese defense official leaked… Keep reading →

With budgets falling and China rising, the U.S. Army wants in on the one theater where President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have promised to keep investing: the Pacific. The world’s largest ocean is not an obvious fit for America’s land forces. So far, it is the Air Force and the Navy that have… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: There are two anchors of conventional views on the U.S. DoD budget outlook. The first is that it is cyclical and headed down and will follow the same trajectory as defense budgets in the last four cycles since the late 1940s. The second anchor is that the U.S. can and should “pivot” its strategy… Keep reading →

After the year 2020 ground wars will be more intense and concentrated in the world’s crowded coastal cities. That’s the consensus from a panel of experts including current and retired Army officers and professional analysts. Over the past decade, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have adapted to the low-intensity wars in Iraq and Afghanistan… Keep reading →