The big news today: the Marines F-35B made a vertical landing on the deck of the USS Wasp, a small Marine aircraft carrier. Ship trials will demonstrate how the stealth materials on the plane hold up to harsh conditions at sea, as well as show just how hot and noisy the aircraft is when making… Keep reading →

No matter who wins the presidential election in 13 months, massive cuts in defense spending are inevitable. The Service Chiefs are already under pressure to come up with billions of dollars in spending cuts. We have arrived at a critical turning point in the history of the Republic, a point where organizing, planning and spending… Keep reading →

Washington: In the last few days one thing has become crystal clear: the Obama administration — from the Pentagon to the Situation Room to OMB — has decided America cannot sustain defense cuts that go beyond the currently planned $450 billion. We knew the Pentagon felt this way ever since a carefully masked “senior Pentagon… Keep reading →

I was continually frustrated during my time as the Marine’s Deputy Commandant for Aviation by our inability to rapidly upgrade Marine equipment, especially aircraft cockpits and similar systems. The reason is simple, much of the aerospace and defense industry uses unnecessary and arbitrary proprietary markings as a base requirement. We must change this mind-set. The… Keep reading →

I commissioned this story from one of the foremost — if not the foremost — independent authorities on the V-22 because I thought it important to address the basic question: is the V-22 worth the lives and treasure it has cost America? The answer by reporter Richard Whittle — the man who literally wrote the… Keep reading →

Patuxent River NAS: Breaking Defense interviewed Bob Stevens, chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, after the first flight of the Marines’ F-35B open to the press. The aircraft is on probation — having been put there by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The F-35 program, largely because of unexpected problems discovered during testing, recently wracked… Keep reading →

Washington: Sometimes events are, in and of themselves, news. So it was today when the Joint Strike Fighter program working with the Marines, flew the F-35B for the first time in front of a carefully selected portion of the defense press corps. For more news and information on the swiftly-changing defense industry, please sign up… Keep reading →

Secretary Gates put the Marine F-35B V/STOVL version of the Lightning II on probation; it was a headline grabbing rhetorical trick. Gates pulled a similar ploy with the F-22 when announcing that the decision was based on a cost study within DoD. Unfortunately, the study never was done and does not exist. Unfortunately for our… Keep reading →

Lt. Gen. Terry Robling talks to Breaking Defense Editor Colin Clark about why funding for the controversial V-22 Osprey must not be cut. The Project for Government Oversight, a nonpartisan group, has called on lawmakers to cut all funding for the plane, as has the New York Times in an editorial.

The future of the Marines, which has been hotly debated ever since Defense Secretary Robert Gates referred to it as our “second land army” days after he announced the closure of Joint Forces Command, may well lie more in the air than on the sea. If you want to glimpse that future you could look… Keep reading →