The Air Force Association – like the other service-specific (none-dare-call-them) lobbying groups (the Navy League, the Association of the U.S. Army, the Marine Corps Association) – do what their former comrades still in …
Weapons
Nuclear New Math
Reports that the Pentagon is weighing a range of cuts to the nation’s nuclear arsenal – perhaps going as low as 300 deployed strategic weapons, down from the current 1,550 – has nuclear-triggered concern on Capitol Hill. “I have to suggest to you,” Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., told Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on …
Photo Op: Strait Shot
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) turn in formation ahead of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71) as the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group transits the Strait of Hormuz on Valentine’s Day. …
President Obama’s Defense Budget Falling Flat on Capitol Hill
Thursday morning, the Defending Defense coalition—The American Enterprise Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and the Foreign Policy Initiative—will host members of Congress discussing the negative consequences of the Obama …
IG Probe into F-22 Crash Seems Fairly Unroutine
Last week the Pentagon inspector general confirmed that its investigators are looking into the November 2010 fatal crash of an F-22 fighter. Pilots have long grumbled that the super-jet’s oxygen-supply system doesn’t always …
Warning: Budget Day
Monday is Budget Day. This is not a drill: head for a soundproof, locked, windowless, Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility to avoid the howls and screams as the Pentagon releases its proposed 2013 spending plan. Here’s the hardware slice already giving some Crystal City defense-contractor types the vapors.
But we already …
Building Weapons: Where 70% Trumps 100%
There’s a lot of talk these days about reducing the cost of military technology projects. The most intelligent conversations on this topic inevitably converge on the idea of building the proverbial “70% solution.” These …
Meritorious…or Mawkish?
F-22 Crash: IG Looking Into Air Force Probe That Concluded Pilot Was To Blame
The Pentagon inspector general is investigating the Air Force’s official probe into a fatal F-22 crash that concluded the pilot was to blame. “The assessment will focus on the adherence of the AIB [Accident Investigation Board] …
Dive! Dive! Dive! Navy Fleet Has Been Cut in Half!
The U.S. Navy fleet peaked at 568 battle-force ships (aka “big boats”) in 1987.
Ever since, the Navy has been on a glideslope to a smaller fleet, according to a Congressional Research Service report sent to lawmakers Tuesday, and obtained by Battleland:
The report notes that the fleet has shrunk to 284 ships – precisely 50% …
Into the Lion’s Den
The Conservative Political Action Conference is rolling into Washington on Thursday, and you can feel a change in the air on military matters.
Sure, Battleland’s own Mackenzie Eaglen will be on a panel arguing for more:
…but retired Army office Doug MacGregor will be a one-man band (hey, you gotta start somewhere) arguing …
The Pentagon’s Top Weapons Buyer Wrote This Headline: `Acquisition Malpractice’
Frank Kendall shined a spotlight Monday into the F-35 program – the biggest weapons buy in the history of the world — and didn’t like what he saw. The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said:
This will make a headline if I say it, but I’m going to say it anyway: putting the F-35 into production years before the first test flight was
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