PENTAGON: In a stark indicator of just how grim the situation between Russia and the United States is growing, senior US defense officials say European Command is shifting its focus from “reassurance to deterrence” and “from a training to a warfighting stance.” Defense Secretary Ash Carter himself is flying across the Atlantic to preside over Tuesday’s… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: One word from Defense Secretary Ash Carter yesterday opened the door to US arms sales to Vietnam, a former enemy turned potential ally against a rising China. The administration has tiptoed towards easing the ban on lethal weapons sales ever since Vietnamese president Truong Tan Sang met with Obama in 2013, but Carter’s statement… Keep reading →

UPDATED with Sen. McCain & Dean Cheng comments WASHINGTON: If China builds an artificial island on the disputed Scarborough Shoal, Sen. Dan Sullivan warned today, it will complete a “strategic triangle” of bases that can dominate the South China Sea. At this morning’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sullivan displayed a map (above) of the region… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wants to boost funding for readiness and modernization and he’s using a budgeting gimmick in the defense policy bill to do it that is prompting much head shaking. (A similar gimmick led to a short-lived presidential veto last year). Colin’s bet is that, should the Senate… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Tucked into the corners of the House’s huge draft defense bill are the seeds of a new way of warfare. It’s an approach aimed at adversaries armed with lots of long-range missiles, such as Russia and China. If the Pentagon takes the money and suggestions in the House Armed Services Committee’s draft National Defense… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The Quadrennial Defense Review is dead. Long live a unified combatant command known as Cyber Command. Ok, it doesn’t quite ring like Long Live The Queen, but you get the idea. House Armed Service Committee staffers briefed reporters on some of the more important bits of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. Top… Keep reading →

  In less than three years, Northern Command has witnessed an important strategic shift. North Korea’s leadership changed and the acceleration of their nuclear weapons and missiles program are changing the strategic calculus for the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, the re-launch of Russia under President Putin has Russia’s presence felt in the Middle East, Asia… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The top Democrat on the House seapower subcommittee sees a bright future for submarines, a bleak one for the Navy’s cruiser modernization plan, and a big question mark over the controversial Littoral Combat Ship. I spoke to Rep. Joe Courtney yesterday as the House Armed Services Committee rushed to finish its first draft… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Chronic maintenance problems with the aging F-18 Hornet are hobbling the Marines, leaving them with less than 60 percent of the strike fighters they need to conduct training and operations, the deputy commandant for aviation told the Senate this afternoon. “I pulled up our readiness data just yesterday,” Lt. Gen. Jon Davis told the seapower subcommittee… Keep reading →

This marks the first of our monthly op-eds by Rep. J. Randy Forbes, chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee. We will send a Tweet before posting each one so you’ve got some notice. Read on! The Editor At the start of my first column, I would like to thank the editors of Breaking… Keep reading →