DoD Buzz

Defense Reforms Cost $90M A Pop

Colin Clark — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:41:37 +0000

The Pentagon has performed a study or two that found each of its acquisition programs will have to spend about $90 million to comply with the recently passed defense acquisition reform bill, sponsored by Senators Carl Levin and John McCain. I understand several people at the meeting laughed when told this figure, guessing that if this is the official estimate at this early stage then the actual costs will be a heck of lot higher.

Afghan Push May Threaten Pakistan

Greg Grant — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:37:22 +0000

Supporters of an escalation in Afghanistan argue that only a troop intensive counterinsurgency there can prevent a spillover of the fighting into neighboring Pakistan, a much more strategically vital country. CSIS's Rick Nelson warns that an expanded offensive in Afghanistan risks pushing more militants into Pakistan, worsening stability there and ultimately hindering efforts to eliminate Al Qaeda.

Tragedy Stalks Fort Hood

Colin Clark — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:25:37 +0000

UPDATED: Shooter Cried "Allahu Akbar -- God Is great -- Before Firing. Questions Arising About Possible Militant Views. Tragedy has struck Fort Hood, the kind that will weigh on the minds of Americans for months, and be remembered for years. At least 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a pair of shootings Thursday at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas, the Army says. Some late reports indicate the shooter was an Army psychiatrist who was about to be deployed.

Surge Hawks’ Frustration Mounts

Greg Grant — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:39:16 +0000

Frustration over the Obama administration's delay in sending more troops to Afghanistan is mounting among the hawkish set inside Washington. At an AEI conference yesterday, some of the same folks who had a hand in promoting the Iraq surge back in 2006 called for an even bigger troop surge in Afghanistan, warning that any delays risks certain defeat.

US Lacks Political Will For Af-Pak

Colin Clark — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:09:25 +0000

"I believe that the US at the moment does not have the political will, nor the public understanding and commitment to do what is necessary in Afghanistan." Those are the words of Muqtedar Khan, director of the University of Delaware's Islamic studies program, testifying Monday morning before the House Armed Services subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

China Declares Space War Inevitable

Colin Clark — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:21:04 +0000

In what appears to mark a major shift in Chinese military and arms control strategy, the head of the PRC's air force has said in an official interview that military operations in space are an "historical inevitability." General Xu Qiliang said that, "As far as the revolution in military affairs is concerned, the competition between military forces is moving towards outer space... this is a historical inevitability and a development that cannot be turned back.''

Distributed Maneuver Beats Hybrid Enemies

Greg Grant — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:35:58 +0000

Two Australian military thinkers take a crack at the tough nut that is Hezbollah like hybrid enemies and come up with a manuever concept that seeks to restore striking power to the offensive. They envision swarms of small teams to probe and infiltrate a defender coupled to precision strike and superfast kill chains.

Airbags ‘Special Magic’ To Defeat RPGs

Greg Grant — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:31:19 +0000

OSD is sponsoring tests of a new system designed to defeat RPG warheads, called TRAPS, it deploys airbags around a vehicle that neutralize incoming warheads. TRAPS manufacturer Textron says the system has proven succssful in recent live fire tests.

F136 Needs New Lug Nut; Testing Again By Xmas

Colin Clark — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:38:45 +0000

The second engine for the Joint Strike Fighter needs a fancy lug nut redesigned and should be back up on the test stand by the end of the year, a GE spokesman says. The program has been dogged by rumors that it faced a potentially significant redesign of its combustor but the real problem lies with a lug that attaches the diffuser to the cumbustor, GE spokesman Rick Kennedy said Tuesday morning."The actual combustor will not have to be redesigned," he said.

Hybrid Strategy Risky in Afghanistan

Greg Grant — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:44:34 +0000

Reports indicate that the Obama administration will adopt a "hybrid" strategy in Afghanistan, with the vast majority of troops providing security in urban centers while drone strikes and raids would be used to check the Taliban in remote areas. The danger of such an approach is that once rural villages are ceded to insurgent control, they may never be recaptured as the Taliban expands its shadow government.

Rumors Fly About JSF Second Engine

Colin Clark — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:26:06 +0000

Rumors flew last week that GE faced the prospect of having to redesign its cumbustor and that the engine is in such deep doo doo that it would be off the test stand for at least six months. Then Loren Thompson, uber-source for many defense reporters, put out an item this morning summarizing the rumors and now Congress wants answers -- right away.

Northrop Offers New Intel Radar

Colin Clark — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:52:16 +0000

During the days of the Cold War, intelligence analysts tracked Soviet missile deployments and launches, as well as mass maneuvers, using the technological wonders of change detection, the arcane art of looking at satellite and U-2 photos to see what had moved where and how fast they were moving. Now Northrop Grumman is developing a fast, broad-area radar that may give analysts better tools to work with.

Arm Afghan Tribes, Experts Say

Greg Grant — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:59:24 +0000

A number of experts now say the U.S. should abandon its “top down” strategy of building an Afghan national army. Better is a "bottom up" approach that arms and pays local tribes to fight the Taliban alongside U.S. special forces.

Dems Warn Against Afghan Combat Surge

Greg Grant — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:01:45 +0000

As President Obama stood on the verge of deciding how many troops to send to Afghanistan and what broad strategy to pursue, three top Democrats declared themselves opposed to sending large numbers of combat troops. Sen. Carl Levin took the middle road and proposed following the “British model” in Afghanistan, which includes intensified training, mentoring and partnering with Afghan security forces, with a modest commitment of additional troops, more helicopters, drones and mine resistant vehicles.

DHS To Announce Cyber Merger

Colin Clark — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:52:03 +0000

In what could mark a major improvement to the nation's ability to defend itself against cyber threats, the Department of Homeland Security will announce Friday that the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team will merge with the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications. The two groups -- now separated by two floors -- will now be co-located and will operate jointly.

US Must Plan for Nuke Wars

Greg Grant — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:15:05 +0000

In a world where the barriers to nuclear weapons proliferation are breaking down, military planners must prepare to fight on the battlefield one day after a nuclear explosion in a radioactive environment facing the prospect of second nuclear strike. This scenario is so complex and so costly that it renders obsolete many basic tenets of U.S. military power projection, says CSBA in a new report.

Take DoD Dough, Give To USAID

Colin Clark — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:52:51 +0000

A senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, wants to take money from the Defense Department and use it to bulk up the anemic US Agency for International Development. Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee and a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters Tuesday morning that [...]

Lawmakers Slam Tanker RFP

Colin Clark — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:21:44 +0000

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama notes "with alarm" in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the draft tanker RFP "omits an assessment of risk associated with either schedule, past performance, or price..." Shelby supports the Northrop Grumman tanker. Rep. Norm Dicks of Washington, a Boeing tanker supporter, cites four "serious concerns" about the RFP which he believes "demonstrate a clear bias for the EADS/NG tanker proposal" in his letter to Shay Assad, director of defense procurement at the Pentagon.

Southern Guvs Start Tanker Group

Colin Clark — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:26:00 +0000

The governors of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi completed a move we first reported several months ago, setting up a non-profit group to bolster their chances of getting jobs from award of the KC-45 tanker contract. Governors Bob Riley (R-Ala), Haley Barbour (R-Miss.), and Bobby Jindal (R- La.) launched The Aerospace Alliance, intended to "establish the Gulf Coast and surrounding region as a world class aerospace, space and aviation corridor." But job one is winning the tanker contract.

Sen. Kerry Rejects McChrystal Strategy

Greg Grant — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:00:01 +0000

Sen. John Kerry told a Washington audience today that Afghan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s call for an expanded counterinsurgency campaign reaches “too far, too fast.” Instead, Kerry called for a more “narrowly focused” counterinsurgency strategy that would dial down U.S. war aims, put US troops into fewer areas and pour money into Taliban fighters who might switch sides.