The news that the Pentagon’s fleet of 51 F-35 fighters has been grounded because of a half-inch crack in one of its engine’s …
Defense Contractors
The Picasso of Procurement
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel – and occasional Battleland contributor – Dan Ward not only has a way with words. He is, according to his new The Comic Guide to Improving Defense Acquisitions, also the Picasso of …
Kinder, Gentler War
In the Pentagon’s continuing quest to destroy without hurting, Boeing announced this week that its CHAMP microwave-burst weapon successfully rendered electronic targets useless without wounding anyone.
“We turned science …
Empire of the Sunset
Exploding Budgets
The government is set to spend $640 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next ten years.
If you didn’t know that, you are not alone. No one has put together a reliable estimate of these future budgets – …
$240 million
$4.2 Billion
Nation Building: The Fine Print
Sometimes it tough to understand the scope of what the U.S. and its allies are trying to do in Afghanistan. Then the latest batch of contract solicitations in Federal Business Opportunities rolls in and makes it tough to …
The Navy’s New Class of Warships: Big Bucks, Little Bang
The Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is not only staggeringly overpriced and chronically unreliable but — even if it were to work perfectly — cannot match the combat power of similar sized foreign warships costing only a …
Sky-High WiFi
If civilian passengers can now get the Internet on airplanes, shouldn’t troops be able to get it on the battlefield?
The Air Force has just awarded Northrop Grumman a $20 million contract to do just that, by adding new …
Playing Checkers in Kabul
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Afghanistan is like a giant checkerboard, and U.S. and NATO troops are the checkers, limited to the black squares.
After more than a decade of war combined with a hearts-and-minds …
“The worst I’ve ever seen.”
Calls for Phantom Defense Cuts Must Stop
Fiscal restraint is en vogue and increasingly the cover many are using to push other agendas. Republicans spent a week in Tampa monitoring America’s mounting national debt at their recent convention. Democrats included a call …