Last night, President Obama opened his State of the Union address by referencing the sacrifices and courage of America’s military personnel as they return home from combat. The President’s rhetoric was moving, but unfortunately, words are simply words and have not been fully backed up with action that supports America’s heroes.
Air Force
It Flies — And Dies!
The balloon’s gone up in the war of leaks over planned Pentagon budget cuts. Here’s a pair of items that seem to reach differing conclusions about one of the Air Force’s key spy drone programs.
Kind of Like Washing a Rental Car
The Army Corps of Engineers has just finished building new terminals at Afghanistan’s Shindand air base for $18 million. “This facility will play an important role as the coalition begins to move equipment and personnel out of …
General Fogleman: Back to the Future
Ron Fogleman (Air Force chief of staff, 1994-97) is the only member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to request, and take, early retirement over a matter of principle (see why here). That makes him pretty rare, and worth listening …
Afghanistan’s Helmand Province: Both Sides Now
Over the weekend, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry and the conservative, pro-military Moving American Forward advocacy group defended the Marines who allegedly urinated on Taliban corpses. This is what happens when politics …
“Quiet Heroes”
They’re somewhere on the warfare spectrum between hard-charging infantrymen who live to kill, and combat medics, who live to save lives. They’re the explosive ordnance disposal techs, the guys who risk life and limb to find and …
Chart Attack
The number of drones is skyrocketing in the U.S. military, yet they account for less than a dime of every dollar spent on military aircraft, according to these two charts in a new Congressional Research Service report. Kind of makes a taxpayer wonder if the $380 billion the nation is investing in the fledgling manned F-35 fighter …
“Prime Minister Maliki, May I?”
For nearly a decade, the U.S. Air Force flew anywhere over Iraq, whenever it pleased. For the decade before that – as it patrolled the northern and southern no-fly zones, over the top and bottom third of Saddam Hussein’s
…
Vertically Challenged: Marine F-35 Engines’ Long Lead, Much Higher Cost
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7psXvZp9xI]
You may recall a couple of weeks ago when we reported, based on our own crude analysis of a Pentagon contract announcement, that the latest batch of engines for the Marine’s F-35 fighter would cost $129 million apiece, five times the $25 million sticker on the Air Force F-35 …
The Changing of the Guard
I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.
The sentiment is usually attributed to Groucho Marx, but as of this week it works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, too.
The “Strategic Pivot” to Asia Now Committed, Pentagon Can Float Allegedly Deep Cuts
Nice piece in the New York Times on Tuesday, previewing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s much-anticipated announcement of almost a half-trillion in defense cuts over the next decade.As Mark Thompson just noted, not a whole lot …
None Dare Call It Money Laundering…
Sure it’s just a coincidence that one day after Saudi Arabia says it will help fill any oil shortage caused by cutting off Iranian exports to world markets, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced they have finalized a deal for 84 …
Marines’ F-35 Engines Costing Way More Than Other Services’
There’s been lots of grumbling over the cost of the $380 billion F-35 fighter program, and some wheels squeak louder than others. On Wednesday, the Navy awarded a $1.1 billion contract for 30 F-35 engines to Pratt & Whitney …