Washington: In his first speech as the Army’s new Chief of Staff, Gen Ray Odierno warned that large, rapid reductions to the service would put the nation at risk. Odierno officially took the reins from former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is replacing Adm. Mike Mullen as the Chairman of the Joint… Keep reading →

Washington: Top Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee began today what is clearly intended to be a sustained campaign against further cuts to the Pentagon’s budget. Rep. Buck McKeon, HASC chairman, and his vice chairman, Rep. Mac Thornberry, met with defense reporters and released a video to press their case that the Pentagon’s… Keep reading →

Washington: The White House’s top counterterrorism official expressed renewed worries today about terrorists getting their hands on sophisticated surface-to-air weapons as news reports confirmed mass looting of surface-air-missiles by Libya’s new transitional government. John Brennan, speaking at an intelligence conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Intelligence and National Security… Keep reading →

This article marks the beginning of our examination of just what America’s national security leaders should do next to secure our national security, 10 years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. We will post at least one analytic piece each day until the anniversary. One of the lasting legacies of 9/11 that continues… Keep reading →

Washington: After a 25-year career in the national security arena, much of it spent in Washington, defense analyst and Oklahoma native Dakota Wood is heading home. Wood, a former Marine Corps officer and now defense analyst at the prestigious Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, has joined the growing pool of GOP candidates vying to… Keep reading →

I was editor of Defense News on Sept. 11, 2001. My son had been born just a few months earlier, that February. The first hint I had of anything untoward was a bizarre story I heard on National Public Radio as I parked my VW Passat at the office just before 9 a.m. A small… Keep reading →

UPDATED Washington: A new problem — described in a Pentagon email as “not a serious issue” — has been found with the wings of the Air Force and Marine versions of the F-35. The problem is with the wing’s forward root rib and was discovered in standard durability tests. The ribs — which provide the… Keep reading →

Washington: The Pentagon must phase out its use of private security contractors, or find a way to make sure their presence on the battlefield does not put U.S. troops at risk, a former DoD official said yesterday. That recommendation was one of many included in the final report of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in… Keep reading →

Washington: While the Army may worry that its Ground Combat Vehicles may cost too much and get killed, you won’t hear any such concerns from one of Capitol Hill’s top defense lawmakers, Sen. Car Levin. In an interview clearly intended to signal to his colleagues what’s what before they return here next week, Levin said… Keep reading →

For any Westerner observer struggling to understand Chinese military developments — and let’s be serious, that’s most of us — Andrew Erickson is an indispensable resource. A professor at the Naval War College, Erickson has edited an influential series of books about the People’s Liberation Army, each volume based on close scrutiny of Chinese-language journals… Keep reading →