US GSSAP satellites moved to within 10 kilometers of five Russian GEO-based satellites between 2016 and 2018, new Russian space observation data shows.

More ruthless prioritization, a laser focus on filling key capability shortfalls and better alignment of national, regional, and NATO plans will allow the alliance to solidify its place as the alliance of choice for decades to come.

“I think the most important bits are … about the recent Russian RPOs likely being an SSA/intelligence program and possibly supporting the new Burevestnik co-orbital program,” said Brian Weeden, technical advisor to the Secure World Foundation.

Offensive missiles are much cheaper than missile defenses. So is the best defense a good offense?

The new approach will focus on an urgent but largely unmet threat: Russian and Chinese cruise missiles.

The move could save more than $30 billion over 25 years to invest in high-tech weapons — but Congress is sure to explode in outrage.

“We need to have any sensor connect to any shooter at very rapid machine-to-machine speed,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said, “if we’re going to multi-domain operations.” But aye, there’s the rub: Are we?

Every Breaking Defense reader has a good idea how huge the US military’s modernization backlog is. But it sometimes takes a deep dive to show how big the problem is. In a new study by the Center for Strategic & International Studies — embedded below — scholars Gabriel Coll, Andrew Hunter, and Robert Karlen look… Keep reading →

Having wasted tens of billions and almost 30 years since the end of the Cold War, the Army is out of time. But after decades of incremental improvements, its existing weapons — including the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that GE’s new engine will upgrade – are overweight, underpowered, and running out of room to grow. Meanwhile, the Army’s attempts at a high-tech great leap forward kept getting cancelled as unaffordable, unfeasible, or both.

The release of the 2020 defense budget is still over a month away, and it’s already been a wild ride. A look at what has happened, and what might happen next.