One of the most disturbing aspects of our nation’s current response to cyber attacks is a creeping passivity that permeates discussions surrounding the topic. Fueled by less-than-robust, defense-oriented national and DoD cyber strategies, some of the leading voices in the US’s national security establishment seem to have given up the fight without even entering the… Keep reading →

Pentagon: It’s official: the Pentagon will get roughly halfway to the Obama administration’s goal of cutting up to $500 billion in defense spending over the next five years. Department officials will finalize details of the $260 billion in cuts “in the coming weeks,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today. Those will be part of the… Keep reading →

Washington: The Navy will place arming its fleet of Fire Scout drones with a modified Hydra rocket, heralding a new era in unmanned combat for the service. An armed Fire Scout will dramatically cut the Navy’s kill chain, or time it takes to identify, track and eventually sink an enemy target, says Jan Van Tol,… Keep reading →

UPDATED WITH PENTAGON RESPONSE Capitol Hill: Faced with a torrent of counterfeit parts that pose a serious risk to the lives of American servicemen and to the performance of sophisticated weapons, Sen. Carl Levin pledged today to push for new laws and policies to help curb the problem. Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services… Keep reading →

National Defense University: We’re going to do downsizing right: That’s the essence of the pledge made today by the Pentagon’s Under Secretary for Policy, Michèle Flournoy. It won’t be an easy one to keep. Flournoy talked to reporters here after she spoke to an NDU conference on “grand strategy. While the military’s top civilian strategist… Keep reading →

Washington: Just weeks after the Army canceled the JTRS Ground Mobile Radio system, the service is rushing to test a number of industry prototypes during the Network Integration Exercises at White Sands Missile Range. Army officials have already picked the Harris-built Falcon III wideband radio as the interim replacement for the GMR system, Dennis Moran,… Keep reading →

Washington: There is growing concern within the Army that industry won’t be able to give the service what it wants for its improved Humvee fleet. “We have tested some of the [upgraded Humvees] already and they did not prove out,” said an Army official with knowledge of the program. “We don’t know if they can… Keep reading →

The Obama administration will probably announce soon that the United States will join in supporting adoption of the European Code of Conduct for Space Activities, which the White House now calls the “international” code of conduct. This commitment reflects the administration’s continuing determination that security for US interests in space can best be found by… Keep reading →

Washington: The White House Office of Management and Budget wants the Navy to reduce the number of SSBN-X submarines it buys from 12 to 10 boats but also to boost the number of missile launching tubes from 16 to 20. On the face of it, this might save the Pentagon $7 billion over the 15-year… Keep reading →

Washington: A series of war games led by a special Marine Corps task force could dramatically change the way the service fights their way from ship to shore in the future. The Marines’ Amphibious Capabilities Working Group kicked off its first war game this week at Marine Corps Headquarters in Quantico, Lt. Gen Richard Mills,… Keep reading →