WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has started to caveat its grand strategic mantra of a “pivot to Asia” – i.e. shifting from the land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to preparing for “AirSea Battle” against China. In the Defense Budget Priorities released yesterday and, most critically, in Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s press conference explaining them, the emphasis… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A blockbuster deal to sell the Air Force’s advanced Global Hawk aerial drone to South Korea has been put on ice for now, according to government sources in Seoul. Military leaders from the Asian nation scuttled the nearly $400 to $800 million deal for four Global Hawk aircraft when negotiators from Washington and Seoul… Keep reading →

Robbin Laird, a member of the AOL Board of Contributors and vocal F-35 proponent, outlines why Japan’s decision to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter will redefine the U.S. and its allies fly and fight in the Pacific. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the cornerstone of Japanese defense. The Japanese know something about technology.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A day after locking in Japan as the next the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter partner nation, Defense giant Lockheed Martin is setting its sights on South Korea. The fifth-generation fighter “can meet [all] the requirements” laid out by the South Korean military for its FX-III fighter competition, Steve O’Bryan, Lockheed’s vice president of program… Keep reading →

Japan, one of America’s staunchest allies, is expected to announce late next week that it will buy an initial squadron of Joint Strike Fighters, the beginning of what should be a purchase of perhaps 100 aircraft. The initial order’s price tag is pegged at something like $8 billion. Apparently, a senior Japanese defense official leaked… Keep reading →

Washington: Defense giant Boeing is wasting no time pushing its newest attack helicopter onto the international market. Boeing is already fielding informal solicitations from a number of foreign militaries about the newest version of the Army’s AH-64 Apache. Representatives from several foreign militaries visited Boeing’s facility in Mesa, Arizona to commemorate the delivery of the… Keep reading →

Washington: The Pentagon is digging in on the Korean peninsula and increasing its commitment throughout the rest of the Pacific. That would seem to augur well for sales of F-35s to South Korea. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently announced the United States’ 28,000-man garrison in South Korea would be staying indefinitely. Washington and Seoul continue… Keep reading →

Washington: We may be leaving Iraq, but American troops stationed on the Korean peninsula aren’t going anywhere as the Pentagon sets its sights on the Pacific. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to tell his South Korean counterparts the United States will maintain its 28,000-man force in the country for the foreseeable future, according to… Keep reading →

Washington: The Pentagon is hoping that a newly-revised price estimate will be the key to locking in a deal to sell the Global Hawk to the South Korean military. DoD plans to ship over that new estimate to Seoul within weeks, according to industry officials familiar with the program. Recent estimates by DoD have put… Keep reading →

Washington: The South Korean government is threatening to walk away from an almost $400 million Global Hawk purchase unless the Pentagon can bring the price down. According to a recent report in the Korea Herald, top decision makers in Seoul claim the revised cost estimate out of the Pentagon for the four-plane deal is nearly… Keep reading →