UPDATED: AEI Analyst Eaglen Argues Strong Economy Best National Security Remember the Republicans, those muscular supporters of America’s military, those vigorous champions of an ascendant Western military alliance. Where are they now? Well, they’re around, but you are unlikely to hear more than a few sentences about defense during the GOP convention. The Romney campaign… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Sequestration would force the Defense Department and other federal agencies to lay off workers long before the defense industry had to, said a report released today by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Though big defense contractors, led by Lockheed Martin, have warned that the threat of sequestration might require them to send… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos laid out today the Corps’ tricky balancing act, simultaneously cutting personnel, spreading out weapons programs, and shifting from counterinsurgency on land in Afghanistan to seaborne crisis response in the Pacific. The big Marine Corps news of the last 24 hours was the award of development contracts to three firms,… Keep reading →

This September, the controversial Osprey will reach the five-year mark in its operational deployment history. In September 2007, the Osprey was deployed for the first time to Iraq. The plane has not only done well, but in five short years has demonstrated its capability to have not only a significant impact on combat but to… Keep reading →

[updated 4:00 pm with AM General comment] The Army and Marines took a big step towards replacing their vulnerable Humvees and lumbering MRAPs yesterday evening when they awarded contracts to defense giant Lockheed Martin, truck maker Oshkosh, and Humvee manufacturer AM General to develop alternatives for a new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). The military… Keep reading →

After years of ups and downs and threats of cancellation, the Army and Marines are about to award contracts to develop a new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to replace the venerable and vulnerable Humvee. In an exclusive interview with Breaking Defense, retired Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli — the man who did… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Deleted Comment We Wrongly Attributed to Norquist That Came From Cato Website. WASHINGTON: That anguished sound you hear is the gnashing of teeth and grumbling among defense Republicans in reaction to comments today about the defense budget by Grover Norquist, he of the unbreakable pledge signed by most Republicans to never raise taxes. “Conservatives… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Relations between China and Japan continue to worsen as a Hong Kong Chinese group promised major protests in September. And two of America’s top Peoples Liberation Army analysts tell us things may well get worse, given the long-simmering enmities between the two countries and the “toxic brew” of the region’s unresolved territorial claims and… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: In lawless, inaccessible regions of the world, drone strikes are America’s least-worst option for pursuing terrorists, a panel of experts agreed today — and many of the civilians whose deaths are blamed on US drones were actually killed by local factions on the ground or never existed at all. “They are actually our least… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Rep. Todd Akin, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and major supporter of Boeing’s F-18, has stumbled horribly in his Senate race against Sen. Claire McCaskill, speaking of “legitimate rape.” Akin’s defense knowledge and experience in the House would have made him a likely shoo-in for a spot on the Senate… Keep reading →