Wicked Video Mocks — in Mandarin — US Defense Spending
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There’s very little to say about this video, beyond the fact that is funny and enjoyable. The company that produced it is, according to the email I received, a Taiwanese company called Next Media Animation. The politics of a Taiwanese media company criticizing U.S. Navy spending are delightful. What other country depends more on the… Keep reading →
Islamic Militants Bloody US Forces In Big Army Wargame
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US ARMY WAR COLLEGE: It’s a week into the war, and things are getting ugly. Fifty American and allied troops are dead, four hundred are wounded — some in city fighting against Islamic militants, some when the surprisingly sophisticated foe shot down their aircraft with shoulder-fired missiles and anti-helicopter mines. Now the US-led task force… Keep reading →
Early Estimate Pegs USS Miami Sub Fire Damage Up To $500 Million
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UPDATED: Includes Info About Sub Deployment Skeds; Past Major Sub Fixes WASHINGTON: The Navy is telling Congress that the nuclear-powered USS Miami suffered $400 million to $500 million in damages from the impressive fire that injured seven and left the ship a smoldering mass at drydock. The estimate is being provided at congressional request and… Keep reading →
White House To Reconsider Commercial Space Imagery Policy
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NEAR CHANTILLY, VA.: The White House plans to reconsider the existing policy governing the use of commercial imagery by the Pentagon and the intelligence community, raising even more questions about the direction of the commercial imagery market. The head of space policy at the National Security Council, Chirag Parikh, is reportedly leading the effort. Several… Keep reading →
Former CNO, DepSecDef Fight To Stop Cuts To Navy’s Humanitarian Mission
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WASHINGTON: Disaster relief, medical assistance, and other humanitarian missions can provide a low-cost way for the military to build US influence in Asia and elsewhere, a key part of the administration’s new national security strategy, but this “soft power” approach is complicated both by civilian aid groups’ suspicion of the military and by looming budget… Keep reading →
U.S. Companies — Not China — Pose The Real Counterfeit Parts Problem
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The Senate Armed Services Committee turned its spotlight last November on the problem of sup-par and counterfeit Chinese-made parts used in U.S. weapons programs, including Boeing’s new P-8A aircraft, the Marine Corps’ V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and the Navy’s Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine. Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain hammered away at China’s involvement and… Keep reading →
Terrorists’ Growing Ties To Criminals Open New Avenues of Attack
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WASHINGTON: As terrorist groups increasingly work with drug gangs and other international criminals, they pose new threats to the United States – but they also create new vulnerabilities that savvy Americans can use to attack them, said the Pentagon’s top drug war expert, William Wechsler. The US needs to go beyond thinking of terrorist groups… Keep reading →
EXCLUSIVE: HASC Try To Protect Air Guard May Mess Up C-5 Plans, Association Warns
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WASHINGTON: Both chambers of Congress have resoundingly rejected the administration’s proposed cuts to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve – but the language that the House passed is so sweeping that it may inadvertently block the modernization of the very Guard and Reserve forces it was written to protect, according to Hill sources… Keep reading →
Huntington Ingalls Agrees To Fixed-Price Deal For Next LHA Amphib
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Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls announced at 5:11 pm today that it has settled a $2.38 billion contract to build LHA-7, the Tripoli, the second amphibious assault ship of the new America class (pictured), at its Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi — and it’s a fixed-price contract. That’s a major achievement for acquisition reformers but a significant… Keep reading →
The Magnificent Seven Weapons: ‘Awesome On A Shoestring’
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Everyone knows military technology projects take forever and cost billions to produce, right? Just look at the Air Force’s latest fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor. The Raptor’s initial requirement was written in 1981, with the objective of developing an air superiority fighter to counter the Soviet air threat. It was declared operational in December of… Keep reading →