The US could develop more than a dozen different land-based weapons for $7 to $12 billion, thinktank CSBA estimates.

The Navy tells Congress it wants to get more deadly and sail longer. Quickly. Can you say unfunded requirements?

CAPITOL HILL: Threatened by hundreds of precision-guided munitions now in the hands of Russia and China, the Navy and Marine Corps continue to search for technologies and tactics that will allow them to operate close to the coastline without unsustainable losses. “We’re going to need long-range fires that can operate from a ship or from… Keep reading →

Just back from a unsuccessful round of discussions with her Russian counterparts in Geneva to discuss the Cold war-era accord, Undersecretary of State Andrea Thompson told reporters today she’s not hopeful of saving the INF Treaty before Feb. 2, when time runs out on the 60 days the Trump administration have given Moscow to acknowledge it had violated the treaty.

“The Army is looking at this too but probably on a different timeline — the Marine Corps wants to get after this pretty quickly.”

It’s a major shift after decades in which submarines focused on projecting power ashore, with their only anti-ship weapons being their rarely-used torpedoes. Driving the change: increasing anxiety about China.

But while the skies are quiet today, US Pacific Air Forces are preparing for possible conflict: fielding new weapons like the F-35 stealth fighter and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), adding more space-operations planners to theater staffs, and reemphasizing that old-fashioned initiative so junior commanders can act when an enemy cuts off their communications with higher headquarters.

The Trump Pentagon is undergoing a major shift to focus on great power competition. And it’s looking for allies to step up in places that might come as a surprise.

It’s a big day for the 2,500-pound Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, LRASM. This morning, contractor Lockheed Martin announced an $86.5 million contract to build the first 23 production missiles – as opposed to test weapons – for use by Navy Super Hornet fighters and Air Force B-1B bombers. Lockheed also announce this afternoon that it had,… Keep reading →

FARNBOROUGH: In a clear effort to defang critics who might slam their product as — gasp — foreign, Raytheon and the Norwegian defense firm Kongsberg told reporters here they will build a production line in Tuscon, Ariz. to build advanced missiles for the U.S. Navy. The first missile to get built should be the Naval… Keep reading →