DefenceTalkThe Burke Chair at CSIS has developed a new analysis of the trends in Chinese military strategy and forces entitled Chinese Military Modernization and Force Development: Chinese and Outside Perspectives. This report provides a comprehensive update of previous Burke Chair studies. The goal behind this report is not to present the authors’ view of the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinese-military-modernization-and-force-development-chinese-and-outside-perspectives-60028/

DefenceTalkNATO’s secretary general has once again warned of Russia’s military capacities. A look at the country’s armed forces shows modernizing equipment, more flexible soldiers and nuclear parity. “Russian defense spending has grown by more than 10 percent in real terms each year over the past five years,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at […]https://www.defencetalk.com/aging-russian-military-scales-up-rearmament-59920/

DefenceTalkChina continues to modernize and improve its military capabilities, according to an annual DOD report to Congress, and is also preparing for contingencies in the South and East China Seas where Beijing has been involved in increasingly tense territorial disputes with its neighbors. The just-released “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-continues-military-modernization-report-says-59797/

DefenceTalkResearch, development and acquisition investments have declined 37 percent since the fiscal year 2012 budget planning cycle, said the G-8. Historically, the research, development and acquisition, or RDA, account averaged about 22 percent of the Army’s obligation authority. But for fiscal year 2015, the RDA account is at 17 percent or about $20 billion, Lt. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-modernization-strategy-soldier-focused-in-lean-years-59236/

DefenceTalkRussia’s fleet of amphibious assault ships requires extensive modernization because their service life has been largely overextended, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday. “The Russian navy currently has 19 ships of this type. They have been in service, on average, for more than 25 years,” Shoigu said at a video conference meeting with military commanders. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-to-overhaul-fleet-of-amphibious-assault-ships-58929/

DefenceTalkTwo years into the pivot to the Asia-Pacific region and the concurrent drawdown in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials today related to Congress the Defense Department’s strategy to maintain U.S. superiority in military technology. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and logistics, told the House Armed Services Committee that until U.S. forces are reduced to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/dod-official-force-size-limits-modernization-efforts-50184/

DefenceTalkThe United States plans to spend billions to upgrade a decades-old atomic bomb designed to stop a Soviet invasion of Europe, as part of a controversial project to modernize its nuclear arsenal. Some lawmakers and experts dismiss the effort as a colossal waste of money that could derail arms control talks with Russia. But top […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-to-spend-billions-modernizing-nuclear-arsenal-49591/

DefenceTalkThe question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to the U.S. Navy, because many U.S. military programs for countering improved Chinese military forces would fall within the Navy’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-naval-modernization-implications-for-us-navy-capabilities-2-48344/

DefenceTalkThe Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress today of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia for the continuation of the United States-supported effort to modernize the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG), and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $4.0 billion. The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested […]https://www.defencetalk.com/saudi-arabia-requests-4bn-for-national-guard-modernization-48206/

DefenceTalkThe Army’s fiscal year 2014 Equipment Modernization Plan, now working its way through Congress, prioritizes equipping warfighters in Afghanistan while simultaneously preparing for an uncertain future. Programs in the modernization strategy are grouped within ten “portfolios,” but some of those programs the Army has called out as being priorities for the service. Several programs that […]https://www.defencetalk.com/armys-2014-modernization-plan-prioritizes-soldiers-in-fight-47935/