WASHINGTON: Of the three variants of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, only the carrier-launched F-35C is at risk of being replaced by Boeing’s F-18 Super Hornet, the Marine Corps’s top pilot said today. It’s not on the table to substitute Hornets for either the land-based F-35A variant or the vertical-takeoff-and-landing F-35B, Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy Commandant for… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has laid out a measured and cautious spending plan that puts near-term readiness needs first in his first budget guidance memo. The memo, out this morning, largely defers major equipment modernization until 2019 and limits increases in the size of the force to “the maximum responsible rate” (emphasis ours). So,… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: After weeks of uncertainty and mounting evidence that only larger deficits were the path to a significant boost to the US military, President Trump has signaled the fiscal spigots will be opened in the interests of a larger and more capable US military. “I think it’s significant in signaling this is a priority among the… Keep reading →

CORRECTED: Bilden is least experienced, not 2nd to last WASHINGTON: Trump’s pick for Navy Secretary, Philip Bilden, has less relevant experience than any of his predecessors since 1980, Breaking Defense has found. To be precise, every Navy Secretary for 36 years has had significant prior experience in either government or the defense industry or both: Bilden… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership just two days ago, but this morning, multiple experts and one four-star general agreed that America’s Pacific alliances — except perhaps the Philippines — would survive and even thrive. A few hours later, aptly enough, the Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary James Mattis, the new administration’s most outspoken… Keep reading →

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Defense Secretary James Mattis expressed doubts over plans to buy the nuclear Long Range Stand-Off cruise missile (LRSO). “I need to look at that one.” Mattis said, “My going in position is that it makes sense, but I have to look at it in terms of its deterrence capability.” While Mattis should take… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Wealth, population and thin-skinned nationalism make China the number one threat to the US-led world order, not Russia or Islamic terrorism, writes leading military strategist Andrew Krepinevich. That means the US must build up forward-deployed forces in the Western Pacific, he writes, if necessary at the expense of defending Europe. Russia’s oil-dependent economy and… Keep reading →

Presumptive Defense Secretary James Mattis sent a clear signal to America’s allies — and to his presumptive boss, President-Elect Trump — that the NATO alliance is “enormously” important and that America “must also take no ally for granted.” If approved by the Senate, Mattis said, in written answers to questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee,… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Mattis Says: Trump “Has In No Way Shown A Lack Of Support For The F-35 Program” WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump said more than 144 characters about the F-35 program today at his first press conference since being elected president, and Lockheed Martin appeared to have had little reason to be happy. But there are other… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: With just 10 days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, our European allies appear to have gotten over the initial shock of his election and moved to a wait-and-see mode. They’ll judge him by his actions in office, not by his mixed messages on the campaign trail. “What I detect from my colleagues within NATO is… Keep reading →