DefenceTalkIn a bid to keep the US military’s technological edge, President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for 2016 calls for an increase in defense spending to pay for high-tech weapons and training. The $585 billion request for the Pentagon would devote $107.7 billion to big-ticket weapons — an increase of $14.1 billion over the previous budget. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-asks-for-more-funds-for-high-tech-weapons-62552/

DefenceTalkA recent report from the Congressional Research Service, which examines the cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and other global “War on Terror” operations since 9/11, calculates a cumulative (fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2014) nominal price tag of $1.6 trillion. Adding the war funding for fiscal year 2015 that was passed in December pushes the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/wars-in-the-middle-east-have-cost-taxpayers-almost-1-7-trillion-62208/

DefenceTalkThe purpose of operational testing is to assure the Military Services field weapons that work in combat. This purpose has been codified in both USC Title 10 and in the Department of Defense’s (DOD) 5000-series regulations for many years without substantive alteration. Operational testing is intended to occur under “realistic combat conditions” that include operational […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-dod-operational-test-and-evaluation-annual-report-fy-2014-62057/

DefenceTalkThe US military is reviewing several incidents in which civilians may have been killed in coalition air strikes against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria, officials said Tuesday. The comments marked the first time the US military has acknowledged that the air war may have exacted a toll on civilians. US Central Command, which […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-led-strikes-may-have-killed-civilians-pentagon-61307/

DefenceTalkA pair of frontrunners have emerged to take charge at the Pentagon after President Barack Obama announced the departure of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. If former under-secretary Michele Flournoy gets the nod, she would be the first woman to hold the role, and neither she nor former deputy secretary Ashton Carter have served in uniform. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/frontrunners-emerge-for-top-pentagon-job-61073/

DefenceTalkUS Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will resign on Monday, senior officials told reporters, as the White House faced mounting criticism over its handling of the war against the Islamic State group and the campaign in Afghanistan. The former senator, who has been in the job for less than two years, was chosen to oversee a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-defense-secretary-hagel-resigns-61068/

DefenceTalkA Pentagon plan to create an overseas intelligence agency is being trimmed after lawmakers voiced concern with its price and purpose, The Washington Post reported. The new Defense Clandestine Service, announced by the Pentagon more than two years ago, is to use existing agents, authorities and assets and work closely with the Central Intelligence Agency […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-spy-agency-trimmed-after-lawmakers-voice-concern-60925/

DefenceTalkThe Pentagon will buy another 43 F-35 fighter jets worth roughly $4 billion from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, officials said Tuesday, four months after it was briefly grounded following an engine fire. Although final details have to be worked out, the “handshake agreement” will mean the price of each plane will drop slightly within America’s […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-agrees-deal-to-buy-43-more-f-35-fighters-pentagon-60894/

DefenceTalkThe United States will send about 200 troops to take part in a US-led annual exercise in Ukraine later this month, the Pentagon said Wednesday, in a show of solidarity with Kiev. The presence of 200 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will mark the first deployment of US ground troops to Ukraine since the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-sending-200-troops-for-drills-in-ukraine-pentagon-60525/

DefenceTalkThe Russian troops amassed along the Ukrainian border have evolved to an exceptionally capable force, Defense Department spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren told Pentagon reporters today. While NATO estimates the number of Russian troops inside Ukraine number between 1,000 and 2,000, a significantly larger force is massed at the Russia-Ukraine border, Warren said. “We are […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-notes-exceptionally-capable-russian-force-60515/