WASHINGTON, DC: “Don’t push China.” Even as the Chinese and America’s Philippine allies engage in their latest standoff at sea over the disputed Scarborough Shoal, the message from an array of elder statesmen is that the U.S. needs to avoid any kind of confrontation with China — and the Obama Administration seems to be listening.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey crashed in Morocco on Wednesday, killing two U.S. military personnel. Neither the cause nor circumstances of the accident were immediately available. Wire services quoting U.S. embassy spokesman Rodney D. Ford called the dead “soldiers” but military sources told Breaking Defense the only personnel aboard the aircraft were its Marine… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: It may be because Congress is out of town. Or it may be that few in the defense enterprise have any answers to the looming automatic cuts of $500 billion that will come due on Jan. 3, 2013. I vote for the latter. But whatever the reasons, a panel of éminences grises sat down… Keep reading →

Libya or Iraq — which path will Syria follow? The rebel fighters of the Free Syrian Army have weathered a brutal crackdown and begun a rebound against the regime. Now the question is whether or not to arm them. Some analysts argue it’s the only way to keep up the pressure on the government of… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The likely pick for next Air Force Chief of Staff possesses acquisition experience and would bring a vibrant leader and strong communicator to head the nation’s air and space force. Gen. Mark Welsh, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, served under both Mike Hayden and Leon Panetta at CIA as the man responsible… Keep reading →

Navy aviators from Lt. Ben Kohlmann’s squadron flaunt a US flag over Afghanistan. The insurgency is coming home. As the military winds down its post-9/11 deployments overseas, a generation of young officers used to urgent wartime innovation are starting to spend more time in the bureaucratic routine of stateside bases, and they don’t like it.… Keep reading →

A study by a Washington think tank that closely follows the Iranian nuclear program, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), concludes that Iran could have tested a nuclear trigger in a device at the disputed Iranian site of Parchin. Breaking Defense obtained a copy of the draft report. The Iranian military testing ground… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Landing a V-22 Osprey helicopter-style on the sprawling flight deck of the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush was a snap, says Marine Corps test pilot Capt. Dan McKinney. With Lt. Col. David Weinstein, McKinney did it a dozen times on March 20 – six landings in daylight, six at night. After their… Keep reading →

What the hell is hybrid warfare, anyway? While the other services increasingly fixate on China, “hybrid” is becoming the buzzword du jour in the U.S. Army, invoked even in Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno‘s official “marching orders” to the service. But like “counterinsurgency” before it – and like “transformation” before that – the term… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The US plays a “dominant role” in keeping the peace in the Pacific, and that’s a good thing, said Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen — but the US still needs to cooperate with China, not confront or contain it. That’s the word to the wise from one of America’s closest military partners in… Keep reading →