The incoming commander of US Pacific Fleet issues a warning about growing Chinese ambitions while taking charge of the world’s largest fleet.

“Once the US companies come on line,” Gen. Milley said, “the intent is to outfit the entire heavy force — the Bradleys, the tanks, any future combat vehicles — with active protective systems.”

“There is a good chance… we’d lose the opening stages of this war,” said one speaker. “Parts of the Pacific, parts of Europe are probably going to be overrun before we can gather ourselves.”

Imagine explosive charges so precise they can cut apart an incoming warhead milliseconds before it hits your vehicle. That’s the operating principle for Iron Curtain, an Active Protection System whose computer brain makes 50,000 calculations in the time you take to blink. Installed on a frame around the vehicle that looks like a militarized shower… Keep reading →

House Armed Services Committee pushes through most of the Trump administration’s budget requests, absent some of the usual fights. But the return of sequester looms large in 2020.

The Pentagon’s Nuclear Posture Review remains the topic of debate on Capitol Hill, with Democrats and Republicans sparring over nuclear deterrence.

Pentagon planners aren’t only worried about North Korean ICBMs, but Chinese hypersonics and medium-range missiles. That means, according to analysts, that an array of distributed systems are needed to meet a wide range of potential threats.

Whenever a high visibility military mission occurs – such as the April 13 combined strikes against Syrian chemical capabilities -, observers in democratic countries tend to focus on the glass half full and try to dig out every single matter that might have gone wrong. France is no exception and in the aftermath of the French… Keep reading →

Project Maven has made huge strides in its first year, but the key is remaining open to updates from whoever has the best idea for new algorithms, and new code, a military leader says.

“If you look back at the Iraq war, one of the most dangerous duties was driving, riding in a convoy between Kuwait City and Baghdad. We lost many, many soldiers, too many soldiers, to IED (roadside bomb) attacks, other attacks on convoys,” Esper said. “I could’ve reduced that vulnerability, that sacrifice, (with) unmanned convoys or convoys that were manned by (only) a couple of soldiers.”