DefenceTalkAfter a two month battle by a group of Republican senators opposing his nomination, the US Senate Tuesday confirmed former Republican senator Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense by a vote of 58-41. Hagel is set to be sworn into office on Wednesday. Republicans opposed Hagel’s nomination, citing concerns about his approach […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-senate-confirms-hagel-as-sec-of-defense-46963/

DefenceTalkDefense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has notified Congress that the Defense Department is prepared to implement furloughs for civilian personnel in response to the threat of sequestration. In a memo to all employees, Panetta vowed to continue working with Congress to avoid sequestration, which would add $470 billion to the $487 billion in defense spending […]https://www.defencetalk.com/panetta-notifies-congress-dod-preparing-for-furloughs-46892/

DefenceTalkMilitary experts said Sweden was probably unable to defend itself on its own in the event of an invasion, in a report published Thursday, saying the armed forces lacked necessary resources. “Can We Defend Ourselves For a Week?” the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences asked in the title of its report. Sweden is not […]https://www.defencetalk.com/military-experts-doubt-swedens-ability-to-defend-itself-46820/

DefenceTalkTop officers from all of the military services today predicted dire consequences if looming automatic, across-the-board spending cuts are allowed to take effect, and they urged the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to do all in their power to stop the process. If unchanged, the process known as sequestration will add $470 billion […]https://www.defencetalk.com/service-chiefs-detail-sequestration-consequences-46778/

DefenceTalkUnprecedented budget factors have placed the nation’s defense strategy in jeopardy, senior Department of Defense leaders told the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 12. During his opening remarks, the chief of staff of the Air Force stressed the severity of the current fiscal situation. “Sequestration threatens to carve crucial capability from America’s Air Force, with […]https://www.defencetalk.com/welsh-sequestration-will-undermine-readiness-46789/

DefenceTalkWhen Air Force Capt. Jeff Haney’s F-22 fighter crashed in Nov. 2010, while he was gasping for oxygen in the cockpit, the Air Force surprisingly blamed it on him – not the plane. In a controversial Accident Investigation Board report released a year after the accident, Air Force officials cited three “human factors” as causing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defense-officials-call-air-force-f-22-probe-sloppy-and-inadequate-46776/

DefenceTalkBiological warfare agents pose more than a hypothetical threat to U.S. military servicemembers. Troops operate in hostile areas where they could come under attack from adversaries wielding bio-agents like anthrax and toxins. The first step in reacting to any such attack is knowing that it occurred. Quickly and accurately identifying the presence of airborne antigens […]https://www.defencetalk.com/bolstering-the-front-line-of-biological-warfare-response-46774/

DefenceTalkAn expert panel on Tuesday urged Canada to leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in planned defense spending to build up its defense sector, in order to bolster its economy. In a report, the panel led by Tom Jenkins, a special advisor to Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose, calls for “using military procurement as an […]https://www.defencetalk.com/canada-urged-to-become-major-arms-producer-46764/

DefenceTalkThis book is a compendium of papers presented and circulated in the International Seminar on Defence acquisition organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on July 12-14, 2011. It contains 29 chapters organized in nine key themes: technical requirement and capability definition; technical and commercial evaluation challenges; optimal procedural framework; contract implementation and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/defence-acquisition-international-best-practices-46722/