DoD Buzz

Film Offers Gospel of the Surge

Colin Clark — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:05:19 +0000

President Obama will announce his new strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan sooner or later. Given that the key decision -- at least publicly -- will be how many more troops to send to Afghanistan it seems propitious to consider the Bush administration's decision to surge roughly 30,000 troops to Iraq. How it worked and why is the subject of a new film, "The Surge: The Untold Story."

U.S. Power Slipping, Analysts Warn

Greg Grant — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:02:34 +0000

Two influential analysts told lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week that America’s strategic position in the world is eroding. America is losing its technological edge and is in deep financial trouble, while purchasing power is shifting from the West to Asia. Those trends cannot be undone, they warned, so the U.S. must adapt and seek greater cooperation with allies and establish “rules of the road” with potential rivals.

US Cyber Defenses Full of Holes

Colin Clark — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:26:54 +0000

When it comes to cyber attacks, the odds are against us. The head cyber protection guy at the National Security Agency, Richard Schaeffer, told the Senate Judiciary subcommittee that about 80 percent of attacks on our networks can be prevented. That is "unacceptable," Sen. Ben Cardin, subcommittee chairman, told Schaeffer and the other government officials testifying before him. "We would never ponder a defense budget that is dependent on an 80 percent success rate."

Troop Costs Vie With Weapons

Greg Grant — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:29:20 +0000

The non-partisan CBO said defense budgets must grow by at least six percent beginning next year to pay for weapons programs currently on the books. The base defense budget would have to increase to an average of $567 billion annually for two decades. While that might not appear all that high, it must be viewed in the context of sluggish U.S. economic growth, record deficits, and the need to pay interest on that growing pile of debt.

Airlift Gap Looms For Last Mile

Greg Grant — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:18:38 +0000

Amid warnings of the perilous state of the rotary-wing industry comes a new GAO report warning of a looming “tactical airlift gap” because no aircraft can move the Army’s “medium weight” weapons about the battlefield. The Air Force and Army are looking at the Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL) effort, still in the conceptual stages, to provide a new aircraft that might fit the bill. The JFTL could be a massive rotary-wing aircraft, if the Army gets its way.

Spy Agency Changes Spark Mistrust

Colin Clark — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:10:43 +0000

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair should sign by Dec. 1 a document laying out new responsibilities for the National Reconnaissance Office, builder and operator of America's spy satellites. This will set in motion the first substantial changes to the NRO charter since 1965, four years after then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara created the NRO and drafted its charter.

QDR Panel Stalls, Loses Warner

Colin Clark — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:58:25 +0000

John Warner, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, looms as one of the canniest and most rational defense experts on Capitol Hill for the last two decades. His inclusion as co-chair of the independent panel charged with overseeing the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review would have provided the nation with a keen eye to ensure that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and company did not get away with too many fudged or badly reasoned decisions. Sadly, that is not to be. That may leave the panel behind the power curve, as the Heritage Foundation's Mackenzie Eaglen told us.

US Helo Industry Crashing; ATL Wants Industry Consortium

Greg Grant — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:43:42 +0000

DoD is sufficiently worried about the long term health of the helicopter industry that acquisition chief, Ashton Carter, wants to create a new intitiative, run from his office, that would corral the different services’ research and development money (altogether about $110 million) and funnel it to where it can have the most impact. The new initiative would include a partnership between government and an industry consortium.

Launch Major Counter Strike: Kilcullen

Greg Grant — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:54:52 +0000

Counterinsurgency adviser David Kilcullen spoke last night at SAIS in Washington and said the Taliban have proven capable of adapting to smaller U.S. and NATO troop increases in the past and coming back stronger. That's why he believes a "middle ground" approach that sends less troops than Gen. McChrystal wants is destined to fail. To knock the Taliban back and regain the initiative requires sending around 40,000 more troops, he said.

PLA Plans to Hack, Sniff, Explode

Colin Clark — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:52:28 +0000

When one of China's top two military leaders visited America last month, the PLA launched an impressive and coordinated propaganda effort. The Chinese also have crafted an coordinated approach to using cyber warfare, melding it with signals intelligence, electronic warfare and precision guided weapons in a new strategy called Integrated Network Electronic Warfare (INEW). "This sort of multi-spectrum assault has potential implications that go well beyond the battlefield," Larry Wortzel, a top China expert will tell Congress Tuesday.

IW Needs Armor, Firepower

Colin Clark — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:16:38 +0000

A key part of the seemingly endless debate about Afghanistan and Pakistan -- not to mention Iraq -- has been just what forces are needed to succeed. Most analysts agree that mass -- numbers of troops -- is one key to success. Most thinktank analysts agree that a counterinsurgency (COIN) approach is best. Deploy close to the people and clear, hold, build. The part that doesn't get a lot of attention in the public debate is just what it takes to do to the "clear" part. Read Doug MacGregor's pungent comments on what he thinks the US needs to send.

V-22s In Af-Pak: Faster, Higher, Longer

Colin Clark — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:16:09 +0000

Now that the V-22s have landed in Afghanistan, it's time to take a look at how they will be used. Robbin Laird, a defense consultant who works for the Marines -- among other clients -- got a chance to interview the flight crews of VMM-261, headed by Lt. Col. A. J. Bianca, about the concepts of operations they expected to follow. We've got links to the interviews, an interview with Laird and links to video of the V-22 teams undergoing deployment to Afghanistan and some of their training.

Gates Creates New Counter IED Group

Greg Grant — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:43:14 +0000

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has created a new counter-IED task force to do what the current counter-IED task force, run by the Army, apparently isn’t doing, namely, counter-IEDs. Gates’ is clearly frustrated with the current counter-IED effort that he says is slow to come up with solutions, not rapidly adaptable to different IED tactics and bomb networks in Afghanistan and has too many separate initiatives underway that are not collaborating.

Win 100 Battles With No Losses

Dean Cheng — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:38:46 +0000

With President Obama heading to China as part of his sweep through Asia, it's a good time to assess the recent and groundbreaking visit of Gen. Xu Caihou, the Chinese equivalent of the defense secretary to America. The Chinese put on a full-court propaganda press, filled with images of PLA troops helping the afflicted and laced with declarations of China's peaceful intentions. We turned to Dean Cheng, one of the top analysts on the Chinese military who recently joined the right-wing Heritage Foundation, for his more independent assessment.

Losing Kilcullen

Greg Grant — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:02:43 +0000
Influential Australian counterinsurgency adviser, David Kilcullen, says the Obama administration risks a Suez style disaster if it fails to deploy the troop numbers requested by Afghan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The deep divisions within the administration and the long delay in answering McChrystal’s plea for more troops has created deep concerns among NATO allies and has presented an exploitable opportunity for the Taliban, Kilcullen tells Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

‘Diffused War’ Model For Afghanistan?

Greg Grant — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:25:40 +0000
The American battle for Sadr City in 2008 and the Israeli war in Gaza later that year are being held up as models for future fights against irregular opponents. We take a look at some of the key lessons learned from both operations as well as an important factor that may limit where they can be replicated.

Shut Up, Gates Says Again

Colin Clark — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:47:27 +0000
UPDATED: Gates Shop Leaks When It Suits Em, Says Loren Thompson Defense Secretary Robert Gates really hates people talking out of school. Remember his non-disclosure agreements he required senior military and civilian defense leaders to sign? Well, on his way to Oshkosh to visit the company making the M-ATV today, the former spymaster threatened to fire anyone who shares information on the current debate about the Afghanistan strategy and last week's shootings at Fort Hood, Texas. "I am appalled by the amount of leaking that has been going on," Gates told reporters on the plane to Oshkosh, Wisc.

The Great Afghan Numbers Debate

Greg Grant — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:16:04 +0000
Updated: New "Gates Option" said to be Pentagon's preferred choice. Conflicting reports continue to come from the Pentagon and the White House as to whether Obama will give McChrystal his requested reinforcemnts. We take a look at where things stand nearly two months after McChrystal requested more troops.

Hill Loses; Pentagon Wins

Colin Clark — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:14:54 +0000
Erin Conaton, presumptive undersecretary of the Air Force, is the outgoing majority staff director of the House Armed Services Committee. I've known Erin -- not well since she is always working -- and the Pentagon's gain is great. Erin is passionate about the job of ensuring that America fields the best military possible. She also understands the crucial political limits of what can be done.

Stratcom Signals PRC on Missile Defense

Colin Clark — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:27:45 +0000
The man at the pointy end of the spear of missile defense and of nuclear weapons warned today that the US must carefully weigh any increase in missile defense -- particularly on the West Coast -- to avoid triggering a "destabilizing" reaction by the Peoples Republic of China. "We have to be cautious about missile defense...[which] can be destabilizing if you are not careful," said Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, commander of Strategic Command and one of the military’s brightest brains. When the US places anti-ballistic missile assets on the West Coast, "What does it make the Chinese think...?" he asked.