The Army Chief of Staff wants revolutionary new weapons. The Army Secretary wants affordable technology fast. How can they reconcile these opposites?

Several laser attacks on U.S. aircraft in Djibouti are another way the Chinese appear to be making their presence felt in Africa. One analyst calls it a warning shot to other countries in the region.

Today, Brig. Gen. McIntire told me, Army field artillery and air & missile defense are like two boxers, one who can only punch and the other who can only block. “We’ve got to have one boxer that has the ability to strike and block simultaneously,” he said. “That’s the speed that we’re going to need in the future.”

Lasers burn a hole in the target; microwaves fry its electronics. Both types of weapons run off electricity, so the cost per shot is potentially pennies, and the ammunition doesn’t run out as long as there’s gas in the generator.

WASHINGTON: By 2020, for the first time, the US Navy will put a lethal laser on a warship. “This is a very big deal,” said Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments, a longtime advocate of lasers. “It is clear evidence of the progress that has been made over the last several years… Keep reading →

AFA ORLANDO: Air Force Special Operations Command doesn’t speak much in public, for obvious reasons. The commander pretty much appears once a year here to speak with reporters, and for the last three years, mounting lasers on AC-130 gunships  has been a top topic. The former AFSOC commander, Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, first announced the… Keep reading →

This is a list of the most important stories and opinion pieces we ran at Breaking Defense in 2017. It’s a bit like our coverage: freewheeling, often unexpected and, hopefully, poking at the spots where policymakers in the US, NATO, Australia, Japan, South Korea and our other treaty allies and partners need to look. We… Keep reading →

AUSA: The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is the Army’s new truck, a versatile vehicle in the tradition of the Jeep and the Humvee. Today manufacturer Oshkosh Defense is showing just how versatile the JLTV can be, with two different ways to take down enemy drones, manned aircraft, and ground vehicles. First in our video clip… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: We knew space was congested, contested and all that. But the folks at CSIS have recast that to good effect in a report actually worth reading in detail. The Second Space Age (yes, they’ve come up with a catchy rubric!) is, they say, more diverse, disruptive, disordered, and dangerous than the first space age.” How… Keep reading →

AFA: Two decades after the Marines predicted most warfare would be in urban areas, the Air Force is coming to the same conclusions. Simply put, the great majority of humans live in cities these days, and Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein has added urban warfare to his list of top focus areas. Part… Keep reading →